"New Trails“ was the title of an enthusiastic article in the "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik“ in which Robert Schumann introduced Johannes Brahms (born on May 7th 1833 in Hamburg) to the musical world. Praised as an innovator by Schumann, Brahms was…

Opinions once varied on the music of Anton Bruckner (born on September 4, 1824 in Ansfelden, near Linz), who ranks amongst the great symphonists after Beethoven. While one faction regarded him as a destroyer of traditions, the other side ecstatically…

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…

Born in Nizhni Nowgorod in 1987, Igor Levit moved to Germany with his family at age eight. He completed his piano studies at Hannover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media in 2009 with the highest academic and performance scores in the history of the…