The exceptional French baritone Stéphane Degout, born on 9 June 1975 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, has built a remarkable career spanning a richly diverse repertoire. It encompasses everything from Baroque music and Mozart to French Romanticism to contemporary works. Beyond opera,

On weekends, I just love to get up late and lounge in my pyjamas for most of the day. After making plenty of coffee, I like to sit down at the piano and explore pieces I don’t play every day.

The French operatic tenor Roberto Alagna, born on 7 June 1963, is celebrated for his lyrical voice and passionate performances. His warm timbre and impeccable diction have made him a leading figure in modern opera. Giuseppe Verdi has always been

The twentieth century transformed the role of conductor from timekeeper into a powerful cultural figure: not just an orchestra leader, but an authority figure that loomed increasingly large in mass media and pop culture. (Think Stokowski’s silhouette in Fantasia.) As

Bach built the architecture. Mozart gave it a human voice. Vivaldi taught it to paint. No single mind invented Western classical music. It was assembled across centuries — through faith, craft, theatre, and intellectual daring. But among its many masters,

You may not know that the tuba has quite an expressive range and versatility, with a sound that is deep, rich, and full-bodied. The tuba, the big boy of the brass section, will sometimes throw its weight around. The tuba

Ludwig van Beethoven may be one of the most famous composers in Western music history, but he’s also one of the most misunderstood. Over the past two centuries, a powerful mythology has grown around Beethoven: the image of a lonely,

The first opera I ever saw live on stage was Carl Maria von Weber’s masterpiece Euryanthe. It was all a bit confusing at first, because there was just so much going on. I tried to follow everything, including the story,