Imre Széchényi (1825–1898) grew up in Vienna in fortunate circumstances. His father was chief court chamberlain to the mother of the future Franz Joseph I and Széchényi grew up with Franz Joseph and his brother, later Maximillian I of Mexico.

Johannes Brahms is better known as an instrumental composer than as a song composer, but there are still over 300 songs in his catalogue. In this recording, Karl-Heinz Schütz arranged one of the best known and best beloved of these

Carl Czerny (1791–1857) had the benefit of a father, Wenzel, who knew everyone in music in Vienna. Wenzel worked in all aspects of music as a pianist, an organist, an oboist, and a singer and he made his money teaching

Franz Liszt dipped into the inspirational melody pool of Schubert’s music time and again in his search for creating new sounds for the piano. Liszt wanted to both reproduce the song and, at the same time, make it a pianistic

Originally created for piano and orchestra, Isaac Albéniz’s Rapsodia española received its premiere with Albéniz as the piano soloist with the Orquesta de la Sociedad de Conciertos, Tomás Bretón conducting, in March 1887. Albéniz’ version for piano four-hands came that

Composers of German Lied have the ability, especially starting with Schubert, to bring a deeper meaning to poetry. A poetic reading of Goethe’s Der Erlkönig can convey the voices of the characters, but it’s Schubert’s piano that provides the horse

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782–1871) became a serious composer when he hit his 40s. His first grand opera, La Muette de Portici (1828) was also the start of his success. His discrete and nuanced operas, set to the librettos by the dramatic

Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), whose name is linked almost as one word with that of the librettist W.S. Gilbert for their 14 comic operas created between 1871 and 1896, was, before that partnership, an accomplished composer of many other genres