Carl Czerny was an incredibly industrious musician, teaching Franz Liszt and Theodor Leschetizky and thereby training the two most important piano teachers of the 19th century. He gave as many as ten or twelve lessons a day, yet he still

Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862–6 February 1918) was an important figure in the development of the Art Nouveau style in Europe. His fascination was the female figure, and many of his works were considered obscene for their eroticism.

The legendary Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi (1924-2014) is widely considered one of the finest interpreters of Giuseppe Verdi‘s tenor roles in the twentieth century. His elegant vocal technique combined nobility with great expressive warmth. To celebrate his birthday on 13

American clarinettist Richard Stoltzman was born on 12 July 1942. He has brought the clarinet firmly into the modern age. The clarinet first came to people’s attention through the Classical-era compositions of Mozart, Reicha, and others. It made its way

Born in Lublin on 10 July 1835, the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski was, according to Anton Rubinstein, the greatest violinist of his time. He lived and worked during a period in history when many composers were searching for

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) spent much of his creative life searching for an Italian musical identity. And that is precisely what he found in the artistic expressions of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque. As an editor, he produced critical editions of

As you make your way around the musical world, you start with the easy ones – a bit of Haydn, some Mozart, a venture into Beethoven. Then what? As your tastes mature and you desire something more, there’s Mahler. Each

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was one of the first women artists who changed the role of women in art. She illustrated concepts and ideas rarely explored by male artists to the foreground in her work, including chronic pain,