The first printed version of the charming children’s book Mother Goose’s Melody was published in London around 1765. It contained several nursery rhymes that have not stood the test of time, but many others are still familiar such as “Rock-a-bye

“It was as if I had been born anew” Prokofiev and Shostakovich are household names in 20th century Russian music, but until recently hardly anybody recognized the name Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996). Born in Poland but forced to flee his homeland

What links Pergolesi, Humperdinck, Weill, and Monteverdi? The same thing that links Pavarotti, Alagna, and Caruso. They are part of a list of some 100 composers, conductors, opera singers, and others who have had minor planets named after them. We’ll

It has been said that every Iranian household contains two books, the Koran and Hafez. And a little saying suggests, “While one is read, the other is not.” More than 600 years after his death, the 14th-century poet Hafez of

Louis Gottschalk & Cuba by Antonio Iturrioz “Give me your hand, my child; I predict that you will become the king of pianists.” So said Frédéric Chopin to American pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, after hearing him perform at

For well over one hundred years, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, K271, carried the mysterious nickname “Jeunehomme.” That nickname turned out to be the invention of the art and music critic Théodore de Wyzewa and the Mozart specialist Georges de

What is a capriccio? It has its roots in late 16th-century Italy, where it was used to describe a set of madrigals by Jacquet de Berchem in 1561. According to Furetière in his Dictionnaire universel (1690), ‘Capriccios are pieces of

I talk to my youngest ever Artist of the Month, 12 year-old Russian pianist Alexandra Dovgan. Winning her first competition just aged 7, Alexandra has scooped first prize at numerous other events, and currently studies at the Moscow Central Music