Jehan Alain is one of classical music’s great “what-ifs.” A brilliant French composer and organist, he grew up in a Paris household filled with music. Over the course of just a few short years, he produced more than 120 works

Writing classical music reviews can feel intimidating. After all, how can anyone possibly hope to capture what musicians do in words? The unsatisfying answer is the same advice those musicians have been given: practice, practice, practice! But there are some

One of the leading Italian lirico-spinto sopranos of her day, Renata Scotto was one of the defining voices of the postwar era. She invested her roles with a rare combination of vocal agility and dramatic power, always grounded in her

March has been one of the most important months in classical music history, packed with pivotal premieres, legendary births, and moments that reshaped how music is written, performed, and understood. From the births of Frédéric Chopin and Joseph Haydn to

At the ripe old age of twenty-one, Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was still selling musical wares at his father’s shop in the High Street of Worcester. And in his spare time, he was engaged in all manners of local amateur music-making.

On 22 February 1903, Hugo Wolf tragically died in an insane asylum. In imitation of his hero, Robert Schumann, he had attempted to drown himself in October 1898. And just like Schumann, the impending paralysis of tertiary syphilis was accompanied

Alcohol shaped (and sometimes shattered) the lives of some of classical music’s greatest composers. From John Field, a pianist who had to be dragged out of bars to play his scheduled concerts, to Jean Sibelius, whose binge drinking nearly ended

The Austrian composer, pianist and teacher Carl Czerny (1791–1857) was one of the towering figures in the history of nineteenth-century pianism. He is probably best known for his extensive pedagogical works, such as his études and exercises. Yet, Czerny was