In my initial blog on the 10 most beautiful piano quintets in classical music, I featured incredible masterworks for the combination of the string quartet with the piano. This type of scoring essentially started with Robert Schumann, and from around

The image itself is familiar enough: a green lawn with pink flamingos on it. This sculpture was created in 1957 by the American artist Don Featherstone as part of his work for Union Products, an injection mould plastics company. All

William Shakespeare, the immortal “Bard of Avon”, is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He has given us 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two narrative poems alongside other verses of uncertain

In the 1840s, the Parisian instrument builder Adolphe Sax provided a welcome addition to the family of woodwind instruments. Named after its inventor, the saxophone features a single reed mouthpiece like the clarinet, a conical brass body like the ophicleide,

Written in1940, late in his career, the Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) started out to be a ballet with choreography by Leonid Fokin, but Fokin died in 1942, and the idea died with him. Almost a symphony, albeit in

Widely considered “a force of nature,” Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel has a rich, warm, vibrant voice that is capable of expressive pianissimos as well as roaring fortissimos. Highly analytical in his interpretations as well as in his vocal technique, “Terfel

Japanese cellist Michiaki Ueno is one of today’s brightest rising stars. His impeccable technique and exceptional musicality have garnered international acclaim, highlighted by the 1st Prize and three special awards at the Geneva International Music Competition in 2021. Michiaki has

Commentators and critics suggest that pianist Orion Weiss has a “powerful technique and exceptional insight” and that he commands a “head-spinning range of colours that have dazzled audiences around the world.” To be sure, he has performed with major orchestras