Working from the Habsburg court in Vienna, Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck, born on this day, 2 July (1714–1787), freed opera from the stranglehold of opera-series practices that had been accruing over time and created a new opera style that

The Russian pianist Alexandra Dovgan had already collected five competition victories by the age of thirteen, receiving her technical and musical training under Mira Marchenko at Moscow’s Central Music School. Beyond prizes and accolades, Dovgan has also attracted the attention

I love concertos in any shape or form, and the wonderful Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen has essentially written four such compositions. It’s difficult to keep up with all his accolades and appointments, but to celebrate his birthday on

Yvonne Lefébure (1898–1986) was born on 29 June 1898 in Ermont, in the northern suburbs of Paris. At age 8, she was introduced to the French pianist Marguerite Long, who spoke with her parents about having her pursue serious musical

The American lyric baritone Thomas Hampson is one of the most important interpreters of the German Lied tradition, especially known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler‘s music. He has made over 170 recordings during his career, and to celebrate his

As a dedicated champion of contemporary music, Gérard Caussé served as principal violist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain under Pierre Boulez. Caussé has greatly expanded the viola repertoire through close collaborations with living composers, and to celebrate his birthday on 26

100 years ago, the Chinese film composer Huang Zhun was born in Huangyan, Zhejiang province, China. She composed music for more than 40 films and helped to create the musical language of early Chinese socialist cinema. To commemorate her centenary,

The Swiss-German composer, pedagogue, and pianist Joachim Raff suffered a fatal heart attack in the night from 24 to 25 June 1882. That’s about as precise as we can be in terms of his passing. However, we do know that