Music lovers aren’t very familiar with her name, but Countess Anna Maria Erdődy was one of the most devoted and influential patrons in Ludwig van Beethoven’s life. Today, we’re looking at the countess’s early (doomed) marriage, the health troubles that

The 2025 Chopin Piano Competition has garnered tremendous attention in the classical piano arena this 19th term of its existence. The pressure of high expectations conveyed to participants at every round of the competition could certainly rival that of the

Composed in 1925, following on the success of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, George Gershwin’s ‘Concerto in F’ is one of the most celebrated works that straddles the worlds of classical music and jazz. Commissioned by Walter Damrosch for the New York

Many classical musicians play the great composers’ works without knowing which musicians inspired them. Which is a shame, because so many great composers were directly inspired or influenced by great performing musicians! Some influential musicians even inspired multiple great works

Recorded on 30 May 2023, the Orchestre de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä invited Sol Gabetta and Willard White for a programme featuring selected works by Shostakovich and Walton. Shostakovich and Walton, two composers separated by geography but united by the

The great composers are not particularly famous for their faithfulness. Many had extramarital affairs. The stories of those relationships provide intriguing glimpses into their complicated personal lives. Today, we’re looking at the relationships between four composers and their mistresses: how

Maria Callas stands at the heart of twentieth-century operatic interpretation as a magnetic, divisive and transformative force. To speak of Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland, or Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is, inevitably, to speak of them in relation to her, for each represents

There are three well-known French composers who have changed the direction of music forever. With their works, they have broken traditions, connected cultures and brought innovation to how music is perceived, composed and experienced. We are, of course, talking about