Meet ‘Mini-Mozart,’ Who Passed Highest Exam in Piano and Violin and Became Britain’s Youngest Composer… At the Age of SEVEN
When Edward Tomanek was given a toy tennis racket at three and started playing it like a violin, his parents took the hint. Although he had just taken up piano,…
Ludovico Einaudi’s Amazing Airport Surprise: Stuns Fan by Joining Him on The Piano!
Ludovico Einaudi stunned a young fan at an airport when he joined him on the piano over the weekend. The Italian pianist stood alongside the fan to play his track “Nuvole Bianche” while…
Allegri’s Miserere’s Top Recordings
We have decided to don the sackcloth and ashes and search out the best recordings of Allegri’s haunting setting of Psalm 51. The title ‘Allegri’s Miserere’ only tells half the…
What Led the Pope to Confer Papal Knighthood and the Order of the Golden Spur upon Mozart?
The train of events which led to Mozart being awarded the Order of the Golden Spur by Pope Clement XIV in July 1770 seems scarcely believable today. It all began the previous…
Unveiling the True Mozart: Delving into the Person Beyond the Legends
On October 1791, Mozart wrote a letter to his wife Constanze, who was convalescing in the spa of Baden: ‘I’ve just come back from the opera; – it was full…
The Journey of Ludovico Einaudi: Rising to Become The World’s Most Popular Classical Composer
“On every new project I try to write in a different way, and see if there’s a new side of myself I haven’t explored,” Ludovico Einaudi has explained. “I find…
Bringing Classical Music to New Audiences: The Impact of August Manns, Victorian Conductor at Crystal Palace
A drab, drizzly late-November afternoon in Sydenham, south east London. Seagulls trudge around the spreading puddles where once the stupendous Crystal Palace proudly stood… and died, in a heart-stopping, heart-breaking…
The Ninth Symphony Mystery: How Composers Tried to Break Free from a Musical Curse
The ninth symphony is one of the most celebrated and challenging forms of musical expression. It is also the source of a strange and enduring superstition that has haunted some…
The Riot at the Premiere of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’: The Most Notorious Scandal in the History of Music
The premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) is perhaps the most notorious scandal in the history of music. The ballet was first performed by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes…
Debussy’s Masterpieces: A Compilation of 10 Essential Musical Pieces
Claude Debussy was one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is regarded as the founder of musical impressionism. When challenged by the…