hank Archive

The Moonlight Sonata, acually the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2: Sonata quasi una fantasia, solo piano work by Ludwig van Beethoven, is admired particularly for its mysterious, gently arpeggiated, …

Composed and premiered in 1874, Johann Strauss II’s operetta “Die Fledermaus” is one of his most popular stage works. The operetta was premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna and has since become …

The first public performance of Schubert’s 6th Symphony was only heard on 14 December 1828, a few weeks after the composer’s death. The Society of the Friends of Music in Vienna had originally intended to …

The Sibelius violin concerto opens with the most magical, naturally expressive of themes, given to the soloist almost immediately, like the beginning of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, a work Sibelius played as a student. The …

Pianist Sviatoslav Richter was born in Zhitomir, Russia but grew up in Odessa. Unusually, he was largely self-taught although his organist father provided him with a basic education in music. Even at an early age, …