I have recently been fascinated by the art music of Estonia, partially fuelled by the success of Arvo Pärt. But as I have explored in earlier blogs, this triumph of Estonian culture would not have been possible without the groundwork

In building up to writing her Requiem, Elisabetta Brusa (b. 1954) wrote a Marche Funèbre for piano (1984), Adagio for string orchestra (1996), Requiescat for voices and large orchestra (1994–1995), Simply Largo for string orchestra (2008), and a Stabat Mater

In 1986, young pianist Nelson Goerner, aged 16 and freshly graduated from Vincenzo Scaramuzza’s school in Buenos Aires, asked Martha Argerich who would suit him the best to further study with in Europe. Without any hesitation, she mentioned Maria Tipo,

Professionally known as HAUSER, the Croatian cellist Stjepan Hauser is passionate about showing the world the versatility of the cello. Alone or with 2CELLOS, he has explored repertoire from Lady Gaga to Tchaikovsky, and from Shakira to Shostakovich. HAUSER decided

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists,” Johannes Moser won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. He performs both on acoustic and electric cellos in his effort to expand the reach

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard is known for her “impeccable intonation, technical fluency, and absolutely luscious tone.” Driven by insatiable curiosity, Gailliard completely disregards all artificial boundaries and champions a solo cello repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary music. Her knowledge and

In the revivals of the operas of the 17th and 18th centuries, one of the modern puzzles has been the use of men in women’s roles. We did have male singers, starting in the 1950s with Alfred Deller. At first,

A first work in a genre is often a hard slog in finding out how something works. Praised as ‘distinctive and admirable’ by Liszt, this string quartet by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) was the product of much hard work