The harpsichordist and conductor William Christie is internationally famous as the founder of “Les Art Florissants.” This vocal and instrument group, performing English, French, and Italian Baroque repertory and Classical opera, takes its name from the 1685 opera of the

In October 1878, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky resigned from his post at the Moscow Conservatoire. The resignation followed on the heels of the disintegration of his disastrous marriage to his former student Antonia Miliukova. Psychologically and sexually mismatched, the couple lived

Zoltán Kodály was born in the Hungarian city of Kecskemét on 16 December 1882. His father worked for the railroad, having risen to the rank of stationmaster by 1883. He was described as “a plump, reticent man of medium height,

On 2 November 1788, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote to a friend, “Since 18 September I have been very ill with gout and other ailments. Now my health is beginning to improve.” However, this period of improvement was short-lived, as

The French coloratura soprano Sabine Devieilhe was born on 12 December 1985 in Ifs, near Caen, in the Calvados region of Normandy. Her parents are specialized educators, and music was not an integral part of the Devieilhe household. She received

Hector Berlioz was born at 5pm on Sunday, 11 December 1803 in the small village of La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère. His father, Louis-Joseph Berlioz was a hardworking town physician who advocated such progressive cures as hydrotherapy and

When it comes to awards there are very few artists in the same league as violinist Sarah Chang. And I am not just talking about musical awards, but commendations that transcend her professional accomplishments. Together with Pete Sampras, Wynton Marsalis,

Alexandre Tharaud considers the piano “an extension of his voice, of his body, of his heart.” At the same time, he likens the musical score with all the composer’s annotations “to a straitjacket that restrains us, and we are also