“I endeavoured to reduce music to its proper function,” wrote Christoph Willibald Gluck, “that of seconding poetry by enforcing the expression of the sentiment, and the interest of the situations, without interrupting the action or weakening it by superfluous ornament.”

During his time, Johann Nepomuk Hummel was considered to be one of Europe’s greatest composers and greatest pianists. He was Mozart’s most famous student, a protégé of Joseph Haydn, and Beethoven’s friend and chief competitor. With his forward-looking compositions, he

One of the foremost cellists of his generation, Leslie Parnas, enjoyed a distinguished career as a performer and a pedagogue. Known for his technical prowess and gorgeous depth of tone, Parnas exhibited profound musicality and “an aggressive approach to phrasing.”

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

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

Luciano Pavarotti once called her “The Voice of the Century,” and during a career spanning more than four decades, she was universally known as “La Stupenda,” The Stupendous One.” Joan Sutherland’s radiant soprano effortlessly stretched over more than three octaves,

The Belgian countertenor and conductor René Jacobs made his début in 1974, singing the role of “Clerio” in Cavalli’s Erismena in Amsterdam. Performing with many leading early and Baroque ensembles, Jacobs eventually founded his own group, “Concerto Vocale,” in the

Leonard Bernstein’s comic operetta Candide boasts the dubious distinction of representing the most frequently revised and rewritten composition in the 20th Century. Initially, in 1956, Bernstein produced a musical version of Voltaire’s 1759 novelette Candide, adapted by the American playwright