Ten years ago, on 14 March 2016, one of the most significant figures of British postwar music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016), died of leukaemia at the age of 81. His finest achievements “have a depth of symbolism and historical

Aristo Sham was the first Hong Kong—born pianist to win the gold medal and audience award at the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His win was neither a surprise nor a surprise to him. “I just focus on my

Carl Ruggles (1876–1971) was a musician from a young age, first playing his homemade violin (with a cigar box for the body) and then a quarter-sized violin from a local friend. His mother loved singing, and Ruggles learned his music

Pablo de Sarasate looked every inch the 19th-century virtuoso. Impeccably dressed, with a finely trimmed moustache, he carried himself with aristocratic poise. He commanded the room before he even played a single note. Audiences who heard him perform on his

The French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) lived the Romantic life like no one else. He painted his life into his music, he conducted his love affairs in public, and never stepped back when he could step forward. From this

On 21 March 1925, Monte Carlo staged the first performance of L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Spells), by Maurice Ravel. The première of Ravel’s second and final opera was a resounding success, and the composer praised an

It is almost impossible to talk about one without the other, as the sibling pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque are, according to the New York Times, “the best piano duo in front of an audience today.” (New York Times) They

If you look at playlists these days, you’ll find that lists of the “10 Best This” and the “10 Best That” have taken over. And did I mention that the “10 Happiest” and the “10 Saddest” are everywhere. Don’t get