For all that the world assumes a frantic Christmas cheer, there remain those corners of the world where loneliness and cold seem to rule. If Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin is a song cycle of spring and summer, albeit with a

Although she and her talents were central to the work of her husband and creative partner Giacomo Rossini, there is no English language biography of Isabella Colbran. We want to change that. So consider this a basic overview of her

Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) is best known for the first recording of the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas, which he issued between 1932 and 1935. He was never a virtuoso pianist but engaged with every nuance of meaning in the

Beethoven’s orchestra in 1804, when he conducted the first performance of his Symphony No. 3, and Mahler’s orchestra a century later were very different. Developments in string technology, in brass and woodwind instrument construction, and in the very sound and

The viola d’amore (or viol of love) is a violin with a difference. Instead of the usual 4 strings as on the violin, it can have up to 14 strings – seven bowed and seven that are ‘sympathetic’ strings, i.e.,

In Renaissance Europe, the well-dressed man about town did his best to be the ultimate in culture and style. Style was taken care of by the clothes he wore but culture was a different matter. Because of what seems to

Sir Edward William Elgar (1857-1934) made his reputation with several large-scale orchestral works such as the ever-popular Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstances Marches, delightful Concertos for violin and cello, and two Symphonies. On the other hand, Elgar made his

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) obtained his diploma from the Vienna Conservatory at the age of 18, and he certainly had to make an important decision on his further path in music. One year before, he had completely given up the idea