John Eliot Gardiner, born on 20 April 1943, is revered as “one of the world’s most innovative and dynamic musicians, constantly in the vanguard of enlightened interpretation and standing as a leader in contemporary musical life.” He founded and artistically

Armed with consummate technical skills, boundless imagination and near-mystical eloquence, American pianist Murray Perahia’s “artistry connects with their freedom of expression and nobility of sound.” Widely considered one of the greatest living pianists, “his interpretations project above all a compelling

Ottorino Respighi was working on his last opera Lucrezia when he unexpectedly died of congestive heart failure on 18 April 1936. Respighi had not yet reached his 57th birthday, and his wife Elsa suspected that the cause of his early

For several decades in the mid-twentieth century, Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976) was the undisputed cello superstar. Some say, that he “was the greatest string player of all time, possessing a glorious low-register sound characterized by a distinctive fast and intense vibrato.”

Neville Marriner is perhaps the most recorded of all classical conductors. In fact, his legacy includes more than 600 recording of 2,000+ works, including the soundtrack to the 1984 hit film “Amadeus” that sold more than 6.5 million copies and

Brooklyn-born soprano Marie van Zandt (1858-1919) “outshone her competitors with her extraordinary ability to learn parts quickly and to sing them perfectly.” Her mother was a well-known singer who traveled extensively across Europe, and she had professional connections with Paris

The Fishamble Street Musick Hall in Dublin was abuzz with jittery electricity on 13 April 1742. The musical superstar George Frideric Handel was ready to present his oratorio Messiah to the public, and the audience reached a record 700 listeners.

The American novelist and short story writer Philip Milton Roth is known for fiction that “features intensely autobiographical characters, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its sensual, ingenious style and for its provocative explorations