Sadly the viola has been unjustly maligned. The following five consummate violists have put the viola on the map as a solo instrument, and without them we wouldn’t have the outstanding world-renown players we hear today.

Some years ago I heard two performances of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in the same day: the first was on an 1848 Pleyel from the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands, UK, a piano said to have been used by Chopin

The soundtrack to the 1984 hit film “Amadeus” sold more than 6.5 million copies, reached No. 1 on the Billboard classical albums chart and won a Grammy! Recorded by Sir Neville Marriner and his acclaimed chamber orchestra St. Martin in

The Art Song, also known under the German title “Lied” refers to a musical setting of a poem for solo voice and piano. Significantly, the art of romantic song resides as much in poetry as it does in music. Almost

It is not an enviable job to create a list of great players of an instrument that is so versatile, one that has changed so much even in the last 100 years. These Musical Giants of the clarinet have been

Frederick Delius (1862-1934) was a rare English composer with an international outlook. Born in Bradford, England, to a family who had emigrated there from Germany, he spent 2 years in Florida in his early 20s, and shortly thereafter began composing.

Growing up in Canada Arthur Kaptainis was held in awe in the music world. He has been the music critic of The Montreal Gazette since 1986 and served on the Gazette editorial board from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to

Frequently referred to as the ‘New Testament’ of piano music (Bach’s ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ being the ‘Old Testament’), Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas rank amongst the high Himalayan peaks of the pianist’s repertoire. The primary appeal of these pieces, aside from the