Italy has long been an influence on the development of music in Europe – perhaps it was due to the money inherent in its courts and the musical developments they supported, the promotion of art during the Renaissance, or just

His mother was British, his father French and his grandmother German! No wonder that Eugen d’Albert (1864-1932) had an identity crisis on his hands! However, the ten-year old quickly pledged his allegiance to Germany, and famously corrected his biography a

On 7 May 1896, Johannes Brahms celebrated his 63rd birthday. Supposedly he opened the festivities by declaring, “If there is anyone here I have not yet offended, I apologize.” Always known for his crusty personality and rustic mannerisms, Brahms was

Long before Howard Shore got his hands on writing the score for Peter’s Jackson’s monumental Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Dutch composer Johan de Meij had taken up the call. His Symphony No. 1, “The Lord of the Rings,”

The genius pianist Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) was lauded for his extraordinary interpretations of the music of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and Beethoven. Highly sought after as a piano teacher, his students included Martha Argerich and Claudio Abbado. However, Gulda openly flaunted

I always thought that my grandfather was the luckiest person on earth! No matter how dull the conversations, boring the sermon or uncomfortable the journey, he always managed to nod off. At first I thought he was just pretending, but

It is prohibitively expensive to stage an opera. In 2012 alone, the Metropolitan Opera in New York had expenses totaling 317 million US Dollars! For one, you need singers, an orchestra of roughly 80 players and a conductor. Some popular

Johann Strauss II, or Junior, or the younger The Waltz King, (not related to Richard), composed over 400 of the world’s most beloved waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, dance music and operettas. These include the perennial favorites: An der Schonen Blauen Donau