In all my years of playing the piano, there is only one composer whose music I consider terrifying. And that composer is Alexander Scriabin. In his early sonatas, there are still gestures to hold on to, but as you move

The disastrous premiere of Rachmaninoff’s first symphony is one of the most infamous events in classical music history. Today, we celebrate the sweeping Russian romanticism of Sergei Rachmaninoff, but in 1897, his long-awaited First Symphony debuted to confusion, hostility, and

Cellist Truls Mørk, born on 25 April 1961 in Bergen, Norway, has built a reputation as a performer of fierce intensity and grace. A celebrated artist who performs with the most distinguished orchestras, he has made numerous recordings with major

I recently discovered Stockhausen’s text-notated collections Aus den sieben Tagen — a wonderfully inventive approach to rethinking improvised music. To Stockhausen, what we commonly call improvisation is never entirely free; it remains tied to traditions and inherited reflexes, whether from

First created in 1853 as work for piano and cello, Gounod combined an improvisation with Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier. By superimposing his melody over the 1722 work, Gounod

Prokofiev was an extraordinary pianist, but he also loved his strings. Growing up on a rural Ukrainian estate in Sontsovka, thousands of miles from any major city, Reinhold Glière was engaged as a composition tutor. Prokofiev was only 11, and

It’s the nightmare every classical musician dreads: a heart-stopping memory lapse. Even the most celebrated classical musicians have experienced them. Even during the high-stakes pressure of the Tchaikovsky Competition or on the hallowed stage of La Scala, memory slips are

Édouard Lalo’s (1823-1892) fame in France rested almost entirely on his opera Le roi d’Ys, while the rest of Europe couldn’t get enough of his Symphonie espagnole. And let’s not forget that his Cello Concerto has retained a secure place