I am pretty sure you know the famous Alabama Song, with its provocative lyrics. The tune brings back the decadence and perversion of early 20th century Berlin, conjuring the zest of Marlene Dietrich. It has been sung by a number

A renowned figure in the world of Baroque music, French soprano Sandrine Piau performs regularly with such celebrated conductors as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset, Gustav Leonhardt, Sigiswald Kuijken, Ton Koopman, René Jacobs, Marc Minkowski, Fabio Biondi, Michel Corboz,

Franz Doppler Albert Franz Doppler (October 16, 1821 – July 27, 1883) was a flute virtuoso and a composer. Born in Lemberg, Franz received flute lessons from his father Joseph Doppler, who was an oboist, and made his debut as

The first time I ‘met’ Jian Wang, it was through the documentary ‘From Mao to Mozart’, an exceptional award-winning account of the musical journey taken by violinist Isaac Stern through China in 1979. In it, little ten year old Jian

An outstanding soloist as well as a fine chamber musician, Alexandre Tharaud has dedicated much of his time to French music. Born in Paris on 9 December 1968, Alexandre began his piano lessons at age five at the initiative of

Although I have become a frequent concert-goer since I was allowed to go out at night at age 12, opera had never been on my list, with the impression that the word “opera” itself equals boredom, or even hypnotism. Therefore

Works for String Quartet : Meditation (1887) Poemes : No.3 Nocturne: version for soprano and piano quintet (1892) Cello Sonata Guillaume Lekeu (January 20, 1870 – January 21, 1894) was a Belgian (Wallon) composer. Born in Verviers, Lekeu took his

‘Father of Music’ Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) suffered visual problems from a young age. In his portrait, Bach appears to squint, and the way his facial muscles are aligned has led analysts to believe that he suffered from shortsightedness. His