Search results for

Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor demands the utmost from the performer in musical as well as technical terms. It's a piece that in the best performances can spark a powerful emotional experience in the listener.

Dowland was an important and beloved composer at a time when there was no dichotomy between popular and classical music. He was, in effect, an Elizabethan-era pop musician. The dark, wistful mood that pervades Dowland's lute music was, in its day, a sign of maturity and intelligence.

Although an agnostic, Verdi was a man of profound conscience and spirituality. In his Requiem, he projects the essentials of humanity — piety, emotion, agitation and capacity for hope — as compassionately and dramatically as in his operas.

Prokofiev's passionate ballet score to Romeo and Juliet combines the lightness of the love story and the tender emotions with music of real violence — which is, after all, a lot of what Shakespeare's play is about.

When it comes to playing Chopin, pianist Arthur Rubinstein had poetry in his soul. His expressive recordings brim with warmth, lyricism and spontaneity, as if he were approaching Chopin's long-spun melodies and turbulent emotions for the very first time.

When it comes to playing Chopin, pianist Arthur Rubinstein had poetry in his soul. His expressive recordings brim with warmth, lyricism and spontaneity, as if he were approaching Chopin's long-spun melodies and turbulent emotions for the very first time.

It may have been written in 1830, but Berlioz's groundbreaking music provides the soundtrack to some wild nights — complete with dancing, drugs, an execution and a rowdy party of witches. The symphony's unusual effects and instruments tell the story of a wild-eyed musician in love.

The subtle, elusive quality of Debussy's twenty-four preludes is captured perfectly by pianist Paul Jacobs, who plays them with a tolling, bell-like sound. The Bosendorfer piano he uses has a sound similar to that of Debussy's early 20th-century pianos.

Although an agnostic, Verdi was a man of profound conscience and spirituality. In his Requiem, he projects the essentials of humanity — piety, emotion, agitation and capacity for hope — as compassionately and dramatically as in his operas.

It may have been written in 1830, but Berlioz's groundbreaking music provides the soundtrack to some wild nights — complete with dancing, drugs, an execution and a rowdy party of witches. The symphony's unusual effects and instruments tell the story of a wild-eyed musician in love.