Igor Stravinsky visited the Chicago Art Institute on 2 May 1947. He was struck by a series of eighteenth-century paintings by William Hogarth titled “The Rake’s Progress.” This series of scenes from a drama suggested the subject for an English-language

We still don’t know for certain, but Henry Purcell, the most original English composer of his time, was probably born on 10 September 1659. We do know, however, that during his life, he composed music for a wide variety of

The music of Frédéric Chopin has been central to British pianist James Lisney’s repertoire since his Wigmore Hall debut in 1986. Lisney is a ‘great great grand pupil’ of Chopin, through his teacher, Phyllis Sellick (1911-2007), who herself was taught

Johannes Brahms was seemingly nonchalant when it came to critical assessments of his work or the opinions of his fellow composers. Nevertheless, he proudly and secretly kept a handwritten list of works dedicated to him by other composers. In a

In his new 2-CD recording for Deutsche Grammophon, pianist Grigory Sokolov (b. 1950) gives a very thoughtful recording of two musical giants who rarely appear on the same program together: Henry Purcell and Mozart. Better known in Europe than in

Pierre-Laurent Aimard is described as “a brilliant musician and an extraordinary visionary.” A celebrated interpreter of the standard repertoire, he is also a key figure in contemporary music. Throughout his remarkable career, he has been the pianist of choice of

Credit: NPR Classical

On 5 September 2022, the German pianist and conductor Lars Vogt succumbed to oesophageal cancer at the age of 52. He came to prominence after taking second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition, bringing exceptional sensitivity and lyricism