Throughout the history of classical music, it’s common to find examples of talented sibling pairs. (In fact, we wrote about some of the forgotten musical siblings) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worshiped his older sister Maria Anna Mozart as a child, and

The French harp virtuoso Xavier de Maistre has been called a musician of the highest order, “capable of realizing a remarkable range of nuance.” A profoundly creative musician, he has decisively broadened the harp repertoire by commissioning new works, and

Becoming a musician takes years of serious practice, discipline, motivation, concentration, and dedication. We spend countless hours alone to perfect our playing. When we get together it always helps to laugh a little. Musicians are the first to admit they

The film Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic begins with a shot of a frail elderly man in the back of a taxi. “Mr. Horowitz, you look very, very good,” a voice says offscreen. Thirty seconds later, we cut to the

Technique, technique, technique. Practice, practice, practice. Much of the performing musician’s life seems to be centred around practice, development, and improvement of the technique. It is true that technique is essential to the communication of the ideas of the composer,

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) created the genre of the symphonic poem, but they weren’t without controversy. Eduard Hanslick, the premiere critic of mid–mid-19th-century Vienna thought little of them, noting that the addition of the extra-musical programmes did not justify what he

Widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his time, the stellar career of Emil Gilels was initially smothered during the opening years of World War II. Universally admired for his superb technical control and polished tone, Gilels returned

I have written before about how some repertoire is considered “off limits” to amateur pianists, and should remain the preserve of the professional. I think what such an attitude demonstrates is how the “core canon” of piano repertoire is held