All beginnings are difficult, but you have to start somewhere. This might well have been the motto for Guntram, the first opera by Richard Strauss. Or, as the composer himself declared, “all of Guntram is a prelude.” Working on the

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 9 May 1955, Anne Sofie von Otter is one of the finest singers of her generation. Internationally recognised as a concert and recital singer of exceptional gifts, von Otter has built an incomparable catalogue of

The Staatsoper in Berlin saw one of the most elaborate and spectacular productions of 20th-century opera on 5 May 1930. Christophe Colomb to a libretto by Paul Claudel and with music by Darius Milhaud features more than 30 characters in

Pianist Yeol Eum Son, born on 2 May 1986 in Wonju, South Korea, has been lauded for her breathtaking technical control and her profound empathy for the emotional temper of the works within her strikingly wide repertoire. A prize-winner at

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) had scored resounding triumphs with his two grand operas Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots. As a follow-up, he once again teamed up with the librettist Eugène Scribe for another project titled L’Africaine (The African Woman). The

Québécois pianist Louis Lortie, born in Montreal on 27 April 1959, has a reputation as one of the world’s most versatile pianists. In his thirty-year relationship with Chandos Records, Lortie has produced a catalogue of well over 45 recordings, with

On 23 April 1948, the city of Vienna was treated to a most unusual premiere. On that day, André Jolivet stepped onto the podium and, together with his sister Ginette as the soloist, first presented his Concerto for Ondes Martenot

One of the finest violinists and most significant artists of the 20th century, Yehudi Menuhin was a gentle spirit who gave music a profound emotional resonance. The most musically gifted violin prodigy of his generation, he devoted his life to