Ever since the establishment of music printing, publishers have attached various nicknames to compositions in order to increase sales. More often than not, composers really did not have a say. But on occasion, they are at least based on specific

Joseph Haydn’s first full-length opera Le Pescatrici (The Fisherwomen) to a libretto of Carlo Goldoni premiered at Eszterháza on 16 September 1770 on the occasion of an elaborate marriage celebration in honour of Countess Lamberg, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s niece, and

Every listener and amateur of music has a composer that he feels like he should know better; because he or she is widely known and perhaps even quite influential, because this composer is the starting point of many others, or

What was the music held by the Duke in Goya’s “José Álvarez de Toledo”? Around 1795, the Spanish painter Goya painted a picture of his patron, Don José Álvarez de Toledo Osorio y Gonzaga, 11th Marquess of Villafranca, Grandee of

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was already considered the greatest living composer when the impresario Johann Peter Salomon invited him to compose and conduct first six, and later six more symphonies for the cosmopolitan audiences in London. The British press hailed him

During his two London visits, Joseph Haydn was treated like royalty. As one of the most celebrated composers in Europe, he led highly successful concerts and composed a number of his best-known works, including his last twelve symphonies. With a