Franz Liszt Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, Italy, S161/R10b In the second volume of his “Years of Pilgrimage” (Deuxième année: Italie), Franz Liszt musically recalls some of the emotionally fulfilling days traveling in the company of his lover Marie d’Agoult.

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 4 in G major The notated musical score requires not only realization, but also interpretation. In many cases, conductors will work with composers to clarify certain passages or to obtain a sense of musical meaning. However,

You may not be able to name the title but you must have heard the famous soprano aria “Un bel dì vedremo” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly or Madama Butterfly. In this article, let us revisit the inspirations and

Franz Liszt Annees de pelerinage, 1st year, Switzerland, S160/R10 Following the tragic death of her daughter Louise, Marie d’Agoult found herself pregnant with Franz Liszt’s child. Since she was still married to Charles d’Agoult, it was impossible to stay in

Just imagine being in Vienna on Christmas Eve 1781. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II — eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I, and brother of Marie Antoinette — was hosting a reception for the music loving

Mozart’s father Leopold early on realized that his son Wolfgang, to whom he referred as the “miracle of God permitted to have been born in Salzburg,” represented a unique talent and opportunity. In order to raise money and to spread

Mozart’s early experience with Italian opera is documented in Daines Barrington’s report to the Royal Society in London, published in 1769. “At nine, the prodigy could already, in improvised recitatives and arias, ape operatic styles suited to anger and tenderness”.

“She was beautiful, very beautiful, a Lorelei: slender, of lofty bearing, enchantingly graceful and yet dignified in her movements, her head proudly raised, with an abundance of fair tresses, which waved over her shoulders like molten gold, a regular, classic