After the 19-year-old Jascha Heifetz played his London debut, Georg Bernard Shaw wrote to him, “If you provoke a jealous God by playing with such superhuman perfection, you will die young. I earnestly advise you to play something badly every

Born on 1 February 1973, the Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov began his musical studies at the Moscow Central Music School at the age of 6. Although he never considered himself a child prodigy, he did play Rachmaninoff’s first piano concerto

Franz Schubert was born in the early afternoon of 31 January 1797 in a one-room apartment in a house called “The Red Crab”, then located in the district of the “Himmelpfortgrund,” an area northwest of the bustling and overcrowded center

Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley is widely acclaimed as “one of the classical music world’s great communicators.” Having exceptional control and command over a wide variety of repertoire, Finley is one of the premiere dramatic interpreters of our time. In fact,

Remembered as one of the best and most refined violinists of all time, Fritz Kreisler died at the age of 86 on 29 January 1962. Old age and a persistent heart condition had finally taken its toll, but Kreisler had

On 27 January 1756 a boy was born to Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria, née Pertl, in an apartment on the third floor of Getreidegasse 9 in the city of Salzburg. That particular house is still standing, and

Son of a trombonist and a singing teacher, Gustavo Dudamel was born 26 January 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezula. In this city full of crime and drugs, Gustavo initially took violin lessons, but he had a favorite game as a child.

Yvonne Lefébure, who passed away on 23 January 1986 in Paris, was one of the premiere French pianists and teachers of the 20th century. She was a remarkably well-rounded and cultured musician with a no-nonsense approach to performing and to