Maurice Ravel, born on March 7th 1875 in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, is one of the 20th century composers who worked less as destroyers than as renewers of traditional forms and techniques. His great role model was Mozart, but he likewise had great…

Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft in 1913. His mother, a keen amateur singer, was thrilled that her youngest was born on 22 November: the feast day of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. She hoped he would – after Bach, Beethoven and Brahms –…

"Since Haydn, a symphony is no longer a mere source of fun, but rather a matter of life or death," said Johannes Brahms paying homage to the musical accomplishments of Franz Joseph Haydn, who created trail-blazing works in almost every genre. …

Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her artistic colleagues include Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, John Zorn, Andreas…

Stéphane Degout studied at the CNSM , Lyon, and was a member of Opéra de Lyon. He made his oper atic debut in 1999 at the Aix - en - Provence Festival. Since then he has sung for the Paris Opéra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Berlin State Opera,…