Every legendary music career has a “Year Zero”—that precise moment when a raw talent transforms into an international superstar. For George Frideric Handel, that year was 1707. He was just twenty-two years old, bursting with ambition, and ready to conquer

Few composers have generated as many myths and misunderstandings as Richard Wagner. Depending on who you ask, Wagner either invented modern music – or ruined it. The man redefined what opera was. He wrote some of the most harmonically radical

When you put the three leading violinists in close proximity, you can expect fireworks! Isaac Stern (1920–2001) was the leader. Itzhak Perlman (b. 1945) was born in Tel Aviv and came to New York at age 13 to study at

The history of classical music is filled with extraordinary lives – and, in some cases, extraordinarily unsettling deaths. In Part 2 of our series on strange composer deaths, we move into the twentieth century – an era shaped by modern

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

Classical music history is often viewed with reverence, but behind many of its most celebrated scores lie some very messy stories of real life – and death. Across the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras, a surprising number of composers met

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.

At last there’s an evidence-based guide to practising For centuries, celebrated musicians have shared their thoughts on technique and artistry in memoirs, essays and interviews. Yet remarkably few have written about the daily act of practising. Professional violist Molly Gebrian