As I am writing this, the eagerly anticipated 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition is taking place right around the corner, from June 17th to 29th, 2019. Thanks to medici.tv‘s commitment to live stream the competition in its entirety, I will be

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of existence and how we human beings behave. It also helps to prepare us for the end of our lives. Music can also offer us an understanding similar to what the study

My beloved Macy, I have been so fortunate to have you as part of my life. Thank you so much for accompanying me for almost fifteen years. I still vividly remember our first encounter fifteen years ago when I was

Between June 1783 and July 1791, Wolfgang and Constanze Mozart had six children, but only two survived infancy. Their first child was conceived shortly after their wedding on 4 August 1782, and Raimund Leopold was born and baptized on 17

I am sure you are all familiar with the gothic tale Dracula. Written by the Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897, the novel tells the story of Count Dracula’s move from Transylvania to England to spread the undead curse, and

Richard Strauss used the world of literature in his song settings, from sixteenth-century poems by Shakespeare to the poems of his contemporaries such as Richard Dehmel. His experience in writing operas also developed his song-writing abilities. His first song, “Weihnachtslied’

The word “Authenticity” has a number of meanings and connotations in relation to music and musicians. Since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been associated with performances using “period” instruments, which attempt to recreate period performance practices

As listeners, we’re pretty lucky these days: it seems like every second pianist is ‘one of the best pianists of their generation’! That is, according to their biographies.