Glory to Dido! The Operas of Hector Berlioz
“They are finally going to play my music.” —Hector Berlioz, on his deathbed. Though Hector Berlioz’s operas are still little known today—even to the opera-going public,…
The Top Ten Greatest Violin Concertos
The violin concerto as a form of music has endured for some 300 years and remains, alongside the piano concerto, the most popular type of concerto played…
Joseph Haydn: A Primer
Quite unjustly, he stands in the shadow of his young friend, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Though nearly every educated music lover acknowledges him as one of the great…
The Music of Chaos & Creation: Jean-Féry Rebel’s “Elements”
The Ancient Greeks held three notions about the nature of the universe that held sway for centuries over Western scientific and religious thought. The first was that…
Immortal Beloved: Musical Love Letters From the Great Composers
Love has inspired countless composers, some of whom have written pieces dedicated to, or directly inspired by, their own beloveds. Here are ten of the best musical…