Salamone Rossi was born around 1570 into a prominent Jewish family in Mantua, a busy city in Northern Italy. During this period, life for Italian Jews was shaped by tight legal restrictions and social isolation. European rulers often viewed Jewish

Mozart symphonies are not always by Mozart. Over the centuries, works by his father Leopold, his colleague Michael Haydn, and even anonymous composers have all ended up bearing Wolfgang Mozart’s name. The catalogue of Mozart’s symphonies has been quietly corrected

There is a long list of composers who died poor – and it includes some of the most celebrated names in the Western canon. Vivaldi, Schubert, Paganini, and others wrote music that outlasted empires, but died with little to their

Béla Bartók’s final year was a storm of fatal illness, profound creativity, professional triumph, and heartbreaking exile. By the time the Hungarian composer entered the last twelve months of his life, he had terminal leukaemia and was increasingly frail. But

The piccolo trumpet is one of the more aurally striking members of the brass family. It is known for its distinctive high-pitched sound and flashy historical repertoire, having inspired everyone from J.S. Bach to Sir Paul McCartney. Today we’re looking

Domenico Scarlatti, one of the most prominent composers of the Baroque era, forged a uniquely productive partnership with his patron, Barbara of Portugal. Their decades-long relationship allowed Scarlatti the creative freedom to compose some of his most innovative and expressive

The golden age of the castrato lasted roughly a century – from the mid-1600s to the late 1700s – before shifting tastes and growing ethical discomfort brought the practice to an end. The singers who defined that era were among

The castrato voice is one of the most fascinating – and troubling – phenomena in the history of classical music. Produced by castrating boys before puberty, this vocal type combined the lung capacity and physical power of a male body