Ludwig van Beethoven, born in December 1770 in Bonn into a musical family, attracted attention early in his life thanks to his outstanding musical talent. In 1792 the Prince Elector of Bonn sent him to Vienna to enable him to perfect his knowledge…

Piano concertos generally served composers like Mozart or Beethoven as avehicle to display their own pianistic talents to an audience, and thus it comes as no surprise that Beethoven himself played the solo part in the world première of his Fourth…

When Sergei Prokofiev died in Moscow on March 5, 1953 - the same day as Josef Stalin - he left behind an extensive body of work, of which his musical fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf", his first symphony, subtitled "Symphonie Classique", and his ballet…

Sergei Prokofiev's 5th Symphony, written in 1944 during the Second World War, ranks as his main symphonic work. On the one hand it is a document of Prokofiev's allegiance to the Soviet society and musical æsthetic, while on the other it goes far…

Born in Moscow, Valery Gergiev initially studied conducting under Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory. While still a student, he won the Herbert von Karajan conducting competition in Berlin. In 1978, aged 24, Valery Gergiev became assistant…

One of today’s legendary performers, Rudolf Buchbinder has appeared in concerts with renowned orchestras and conductors all over the world for more than 50 years. For his 70th birthday in the 2016/17 season, he was celebrated in such venues as the…