Hieronymus von Colloredo, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, had a long political career, but today he is best known as Mozart’s strict employer…and eventual enemy. His efforts to modernise Salzburg by constraining spending and curbing musical performances brought him into direct

Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770), born in Piran on 8 April 1692, was acclaimed as “the greatest composer of his time” by the astronomer Joseph Jérôme de Lalande. “One cannot speak of music… without mentioning the famous Giuseppe Tartini,” he writes, “who

The Norwegian pianist and chamber musician Leif Ove Andsnes is consistently praised for his exceptional technical command, clarity of line, and deep musical intelligence. A reviewer from a recent Carnegie Hall recital praised the “light warmth and mastery,” noting an

The German polymath genius Johann Kuhnau was born on 6 April 1660 in Geising, in the Erzgebirge. His family, fleeing the Counter-Reformation, originated in Bohemia and settled in the area known as Saxon Switzerland. Kuhnau was a major figure in

For centuries, the specter of tuberculosis – once known as “consumption” – haunted every person’s life. In fact, in the 1800s, tuberculosis caused about a quarter of all deaths in Europe and the United States. If you yourself didn’t die

The Baroque Era, lasting roughly from 1600 to 1750, was a golden age for classical music, yet the names most often celebrated today are almost entirely male. However, a remarkable group of women composers were writing music for royal courts,

The music of Johann Sebastian Bach has played a central role in the illustrious career of Polish-Hungarian pianist Piotr Anderszewski. Born in Warsaw on 4 April 1969, Anderszewski spent part of his childhood in Paris, and then continued his studies

A little-known chapter of the Second World War is the subject of the recently premiered and stunning new work Émigré. It’s an oratorio about the thousands of Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany seeking a haven in Shanghai in the