As far as women were concerned, Claude Debussy was a bastard! “There was a woman at each crossroad of Debussy’s life,” Marcel Dietschy writes. “Certainly women of all ages seemed fascinated by him, and they attached themselves to him like

The First World War was not merely a global military conflict; it also had far reaching implications for civilian life. It called upon women to become a fundamental part of the war effort, carrying out domestic labor, waged industrial labor,

When we speak of musicians, we often credit their parent or a likely aunt as their first influence at their instrument. For the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), we find his father, clarinettist Fernando Busoni (1834-1909), important to his development

Spanish soprano Davinia Rodríguez, from Gran Carania in the Canary Islands, is currently in Oman, singing Nedda in Pagliacci. It’s a rare production to have just the one opera, without its usual accompaniment of Cavalleria rusticana, but that means that

The extraordinary dynasty of dance music composers and musicians named Strauss originated in the Hungarian town of Buda. Around 1750, Grandfather Johann moved to Vienna, and his son Franz Borgias operated a small tavern in the suburb of Leopoldstadt. That

Claude Debussy’s friend Paul Dukas candidly wrote “the strongest influence to which Debussy submitted was that of the littérateurs, not that of the musician.” And while most of us have no problems describing Debussy as an “Impressionist,” a term originating

Thoughts on How to Introduce the Music Appropriately Before a Performance There is a growing trend amongst concert hosts and performers to introduce the music to be performed ahead of the concert, and on radio for presenters to describe the

No-one could have predicted that Lev Aronson, from an impoverished family, interned in concentration camps during World War II, who overcame horrific experiences as a slave laborer —would become principal cello of the Dallas Symphony, and beloved cello teacher. His