Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) may not always get the recognition of Mozart or Beethoven, but to pianists, his stature is beyond dispute. Often called the “Father of the Pianoforte,” Clementi transformed the early keyboard sonata from a simple dance or exercise

For Plácido Domingo, Otello became one of the defining pillars of his extraordinary career. From nervous beginnings in Hamburg to triumphs on the world’s grandest opera stages, and that even includes the silver screen, Domingo and Verdi’s towering Moor of

When Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010) was born on 20 January 1924 in Houilles, near Paris, few could have predicted that this prodigious young pianist would come to define the sound of Olivier Messiaen’s piano music. A visionary interpreter, a technical giant at the keyboard,

For one reason or another, I have not written nearly enough about Sir Simon Rattle. For a conductor who has shaped the sound of orchestral life in Europe for half a century, this silence is conspicuous. On the occasion of

On a cold January day in 1751, 17 January to be exact, Venice lost in Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni one of its most intriguing musical sons. Far from being a dull footnote in Baroque history, Albinoni’s life and legacy paint a

When Léo Delibes died in Paris on 16 January 1891, the musical world lost a composer who had quietly but decisively altered the course of ballet music. His passing came at a moment of transition, as classical ballet was moving away

Today, 14 January, we commemorate the birthday of Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons, born in Riga in 1943. Among the most distinguished conductors of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Jansons’ artistry combined intellectual rigour, emotional depth, and ethical seriousness,

Every year on 13 January, a quiet yet vibrant celebration sweeps across the globe. Poetry at Work Day is a day dedicated to revelling in the magic of words, their rhythms, and their sounds. Unlike holidays marked by fireworks or