AUTHORITATIVE | CURATED | First 500 words Free

• Personalities
• Classical
• Contemporary Classical
• Instrumentalist

1915–97 Soviet pianist Self-taught as a pianist, Richter gave his first recital in 1934. After studying at the Moscow Conservatory, he toured the USSR in 1940. He gave the first performances of Prokofiev’s Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Sonatas. His fame had already spread to the West by the time he made his first appearance there in 1960. His ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Modern Era

1843–1916 Hungarian conductor Richter worked closely with Wagner, directing the first performances of the complete Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1876. He was also conductor of the Court Opera and the Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna. He performed Wagner at Covent Garden and was conductor of the Hallé Orchestra 1897–1911. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Victor de Sabata ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Contemporary Classical
• Instrumentalist

b. 1942 Italian pianist After studying at the Milan Conservatory, Pollini won the 1960 Warsaw Chopin Competition. His repertory includes works by J. S. Bach and the Viennese Classical composers. He is also an advocate of twentieth-century music, including works by Schoenberg and Boulez. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Sviatoslav Richter | Contemporary | Classical ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

(Mod-yest’ Moo-zôrk’-ske) 1839–81 Russian composer Mussorgsky was the most radical of the Russian composers known as ‘The Five’. Born to a land-owning family, he joined the army in 1856, where he encountered Borodin, then a military doctor, and Cui, who introduced him to Balakirev, with whom he studied. In 1858 he resigned to pursue a ...

• Inside the Music
• Classical
• Early Romantic

Unlike the ‘New German School’ of Liszt and Wagner, Schumann did not pursue a path of radical experimentation in form and harmony; his style more aptly encapsulates German literary Romanticism in music, interpreting the rhythms and melodic shapes of German poetry and folk music through his own ardent and whimsical nature, and incorporating themes and ideas from Goethe ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

1857–1934 English composer Elgar was born at Broadheath, near Worcester. His father ran a music shop in Worcester, where Elgar embarked on a course of self-instruction that made him total master of music’s craft and one of the world’s greatest orchestrators. Brought up a Roman Catholic in a Protestant community and a tradesman’s son, Elgar never felt socially ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

(An’-ton Brook’-ner) 1824–96 Austrian composer Bruckner’s Masses and symphonies, alongside those of Mahler, brought the Romantic symphonic tradition to its zenith. In contrast to Mahler’s angst and irony, Bruckner’s symphonies express triumphant faith, their almost cathedral-like proportions infused with exciting orchestral power and poetry. Born in the small town of Ansfelden near Linz, where his father was ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

(An’-to-nyen Dvôr’zhak) 1841–1904 Czech composer Dvořák was the pre-eminent composer of the Czech national revival. Arguably his achievement was less fundamental than Smetana’s, but he developed a strong international profile and for millions his style epitomizes ‘Czechness’ in music. The Czech influence in his work is hard to demonstrate and he almost never quoted folksong, but the appeal of his ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Instrumentalist
• Late Romantic

(Oi’-gan Dal’-ber) 1864–1932 German pianist and composer Born in Glasgow to a ballet composer, at 17 D’Albert moved to Vienna, befriending the great Wagner conductors Richter and Bülow, as well as Brahms and Liszt, with whom he studied. Widely admired as a piano virtuoso (several of his six wives were noted musicians), D’Albert was increasingly drawn to operatic composition. ...

• Personalities
• Opera
• Turn of the Century

1864–1932, German Born in Glasgow, D’Albert’s parents were German, with French blood. D’Albert eventually took Swiss nationality but not before he had studied with Arthur Sullivan in London, Hans Richter in Vienna and Liszt in Weimar. D’Albert was a prolific composer and completed some 20 operas of widely differing styles and subjects. His most publicly successful work ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Modern Era

1888–1963 American conductor Born in Hungary, Reiner held operatic positions in Budapest, Ljubljana and Dresden. In the US he conducted in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, at the Metropolitan Opera and, most famously, was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1953. Renowned as a martinet, he brought great power to his performances. Introduction | Modern ...