In the 19th century, Giuseppina Strepponi was one of the most famous sopranos in the world. She starred in the premieres of operas written specifically for her voice, supported her widowed mother and sisters with her earnings, and used her

Mozart died on 5 December 1791, at thirty-five years old. He is buried in an unmarked grave, and his Requiem was unfinished. These are the facts most people know. What’s less often told is how much he accomplished in the

George Enescu (1881-1955) and Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) shared one of the most profound teacher-student relationships in twentieth- century classical music. In fact, Enescu’s mentorship continued for decades, guiding Menuhin’s entire approach to music and to life. As Menuhin said about

Antonio Salieri’s reputation has long been marred by a narrative that casts him as a jealous rival who poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Unsupported by historical evidence, the two composers shared a professional relationship marked by mutual respect. In fact, Salieri

Giacomo Puccini is one of the most beloved composers in the history of opera. La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly: his works have never left the repertoire, and his name is remembered today by music lovers around the world. But what

Not every work by the great composers finds a spot in the repertoire. There are many reasons why. Some are just uninteresting. Some are written for instrument combinations that never came into vogue. Some are early student attempts that are

Anatolia includes most of the area now known as Turkey and, over the centuries, has served as a meeting point for Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The combination of these various cultures has had a wide influence on the

No piece of orchestral music pulls more people to YouTube than Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, his last symphony for orchestra and chorus that ends with the glorious Ode to Joy. In fact, seven of the most-watched symphony videos of all