Florent Schmitt (September 28, 1870 – August 17, 1958) is one of the most fascinating French composers active in the first half of the 20th century. A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the

The Snowman and the Bear (City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong) 5PM, Sunday 5 December 2010. Concert Hall, HK City Hall As a pre-Christmas concert for children, featuring a narration of two children’s beloved tales with muted animation and a

In 1993, Dr Frances Rauscher and her colleagues from the Centre of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California published a letter in “Nature” magazine that shook the music world. The report suggested that listening to Mozart’s music could

Being a “huge romantic” at heart, my preference in classical music has always been evolving around the genre of “concerto grandioso”. I did attend some concerts of chamber music in the past, but frankly, they were far from impressive, and

Described by The Washington Post as a “brilliantly polished, profoundly gifted young pianist” following his debut recital at age 20 at the Kennedy Center, the French pianist, organist and composer Jean-Frederic Neuburger has been showing an exceptional musical aptitude and

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I decided to board Windstar Cruises for my first music cruise, but it definitely exceeded whatever I had in mind. To be frank, I boarded the cruise ship extremely naïve. For one,

Stephane, a friend of ours with an extensive knowledge of classical music, has been a contributor to Interlude since day one, providing invaluable recommendations on composers and artists to cover. A few months ago, he sent me two Youtube clips

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), the great German-English composer, was almost completely blind by 1751. As a result, he was unable to finish his final piece of music “Jephtha”. Handel was told by Samuel Sharp, an eye specialist at Guy’s hospital,