Four Curious Facts About Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake
Before Tchaikovsky started composing ballet music, that genre mainly contained vapid stuff in Russia: usually it was little more than background music meant to display … Read more
CLASSICAL
What do Airline baggage workers do to break your instrument? Cellist demonstrates [VIDEO]
Another musical instrument was recently crushed by baggage workers during a flight on Southwest Airlines. It’s a cello and it belongs to American musician Nicholas Gold. The … Read more
10 Astounding a Cappella Versions of Classical Music
The term a cappella nowadays is generally assumed to mean a piece of vocal music without instrumental accompaniment, but it wasn’t always this way. The … Read more
Six Curious Facts About Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
With a body of work of 169 compositions, whose genres include symponies, concertos, operas, ballet, chamber music and even a choral setting of the Russian … Read more
Violinist Maximilian Simon plays Paganiniana
The young German violinist Maximilian Simon gives a brilliant performance of Nathan Milstein’s Paganiniana, combining technical brilliance with an impressive interpretation of the piece. Taking … Read more
3 Opera Divas Who Made ‘Tosca’ One of the Most Popular Operas Today
The lead character of Floria Tosca in Puccini’s opera, Tosca, is one of those iconic roles that seems destined for some opera singers. It also … Read more
Interstellar soundtrack rendition for Piano and Organ sounds Majestic
Lyon-based Grissini Project recorded this rendition of Interstellar’s “No Time For Caution” in the Church of Notre Dame Saint Vincent in Lyon. That’s the soundtrack … Read more
Gershwin’s Summertime: the Birth of a Great American Classic
The soprano aria, Summertime, composed by George Gershwin as part of his folk opera, Porgy and Bess, is one of the most popular jazz standards … Read more
11-Year-Old Curtis Elton is the Youngest-Ever Person to Receive a Music Degree
The eleven-year-old Curtis Elton, who received a LTCL at Trinity College London, started playing the piano when he was three. He used to listen to … Read more
Ten Things You Should Never Say to Your Piano Teacher
The memories a lot of people have of piano lessons at school makes it easy to forget that some of the greatest composers also spent … Read more
Five Unusual Concerts at the BBC Proms
Since the programme for proms was unveiled, a lot of press coverage has focused on the inclusion of an Ibiza-style clubbing night. The idea of … Read more
Can you perfectly whistle through Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria? This man can, and he’s amazing
The famous “Queen of the Night” aria from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” is known for being one of the most demanding pieces in the musical … Read more
12-Year Old Violinist Daniel Lozakovitj Produces Impressive Performance of Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovitj certainly seems to be a name for the future. But the 13-year-old is already impressing audiences with some wonderful performances which … Read more
Can you pick the Stradivarius Violin? Take the test
In a post on the best violin labels in history, we mentioned how 300 years after he worked, Antonio Stradivari is still considered one of … Read more
Six Interesting Facts About Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
For a man who left behind volumes of written records and explanations, Prokofiev remains a remarkably mysterious figure in the history of 20th century music. … Read more