The most prestigious artistic scholarship in France, the “Prix de Rome,” was created in 1663. It originally was awarded in painting, sculpting and architecture, with music and engraving added in 1803 and 1804, respectively. The fortunate recipients, selected via a

“Before Mozart, all musical ambition turns to despair” Charles Gounod was born 200 years ago, on 17 June 1818 in Paris. Today we primarily remember him as the composer of the opera Faust and an Ave Maria descant to the

In an interview, conducted by a special correspondent to the New York Times in London on 2 June 1874, Georgina Weldon defiantly declared “according to some authorities, an atmosphere of scandal is not only favorable to the development of musical