It’s not really common knowledge, but Georges Bizet was an absolutely brilliant pianist. He entered the class of Antoine-François Marmontel at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of nine, eventually winning Premiers Prix for piano, organ, fugue, and composition. In

At the time of his death on 31 May 1809, Joseph Haydn was a cultural hero, venerated as the first of the three “Viennese Classics.” He started his career in the traditional patronage system of the late Austrian Baroque and

In the 19th-century concert hall, Niccolò Paganini emerged like a figure plucked from a dark fairy tale. His tall, gaunt frame was cloaked in black, with his long jet-black hair trailing like a shadow. He moved with quiet intensity, and

Nocturnes in classical music are known for their dreamy moods and quiet introspection. The most famous were written by canonical composers like John Field, Chopin, and Debussy. However, many women composers outside the traditional canon have also crafted stunning nocturnes,

When we think of Richard Wagner, born on 22 May 1813, we envision grand operas, mythic tales, and orchestral splendour. Works like The Ring Cycle, Tristan and Isolde, or Lohengrin thrived in the theatre, where he could blend music, drama,

Heinz Holliger, born on 21 May 1939, achieved worldwide fame as an oboist, performing and recording some of the earworm pieces from the Baroque and Classical periods. Yet, as he explained on the occasion of his 80th birthday, “composing has

Gabriel Fauré’s mélodies represent a pinnacle of French art song, distinguished by their lyrical refinement, harmonic subtlety, and profound sensitivity to poetic texts. Fauré’s vocal compositions number over 100, and they demonstrate a melodic inventiveness that balances emotional expressivity with

I’ve always felt Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) was something of a “Marmite composer”: you either love his music or you don’t. It’s not the easiest music to listen to. I remember playing one of the movements from Messiaen’s extraordinary Vingt Regards