Classical
This section covers recording histories, birthdays, and anniversaries from composers and performers in classical music, along with vinyl reissue news as it appears. Classical music has long relied on multi-disc box sets to hold complete symphonies, operas, and cycles that don't fit on a single LP, and labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and Decca built strong reputations for recording quality that audiophile reissue programs still draw on today. Expect stories here about specific performances and recording sessions, the conductors, orchestras, and soloists behind them, along with notes on why a particular pressing or box set continues to matter to collectors.
78 STORIES
Pablo de Sarasate: The Queen's Gift and a Perfect Passage
Pablo de Sarasate, born in Pamplona in 1844, took the violin from his father's hands and became a celebrated virtuoso. His compositions still challenge players today.
· 5 min read
Why Did Tori Amos Turn 12 Male Songs into Women?
Tori Amos released Strange Little Girls in September 2001. The album dismantled twelve male-written songs and rebuilt them from a female point of view.
· 3 min read
Lana Del Rey's Honeymoon and the Art of Disappearing
Lana Del Rey's fourth album Honeymoon, released in September 2015, marked a deliberate retreat into baroque pop. It captured her embrace of disappearing into a mood.
· 4 min read
Anna Netrebko Turned 55 After Starting as a Cleaner
The Mariinsky Theatre's principal soprano used to scrub floors at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Anna Netrebko, born in Krasnodar on September 18, 1971, spe…
· 5 min read
Why Did Arcade Fire Name Their Debut Album Funeral?
Twenty-two years after its release, Arcade Fire's Funeral remains a breakthrough. The debut album turned private grief into a shared language.
· 3 min read
Close to the Edge: How Yes Broke Prog Rock in Three Songs
In 1972, Yes released Close to the Edge. The three-song album broke progressive rock's commercial ceiling while drummer Bill Bruford was already out the door.
· 3 min read
Why Did Schoenberg Abandon Every Note You Recognize?
Arnold Schoenberg, born in Vienna in 1874, dismantled the tonal system and built twelve-tone composition, leaving a legacy that still splits opinions.
· 4 min read
Clara Schumann: The Pianist Who Rewrote the Recital Format
Clara Schumann, born in Leipzig in 1819, spent 61 years on stage. She reshaped the piano recital from virtuosic display into a format built on musical substance.
· 4 min read
ADONXS: The Voice That Dropped to Bass-Profondo
Adam Pavlovčin, the Slovak artist who performs as ADONXS, lost his tenor register during puberty and became a bass-profondo. He rebuilt his career, culminating in Eurovision and national awards.
· 3 min read
Alfredo Kraus: The Tenor Who Let Silence Sing
A man who spent his childhood on a Spanish island, raised by an Austrian father and a Spanish mother, would become the definitive French Werther. The paradox si…
· 4 min read
Lucidity: The Studio Project That Refused to Be One
Delain's debut Lucidity was conceived as a one-off studio project by Martijn Westerholt, but its chart success forced the band into existence.
· 5 min read
How Albert Schweitzer Made Bach's Organ Music Speak Again
Albert Schweitzer, born 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, spent his days treating patients in Lambaréné. His evenings were devoted to reimagining how Johann Sebastian Bach's music should sound.
· 4 min read
Eduard van Beinum: The Conductor Who Said No to the Nazis
In 1943, a charity concert in occupied Amsterdam came with a condition no musician could ignore — and one conductor chose to reject it outright. Eduard van Bein…
· 4 min read
Locatelli: The Virtuoso Who Walked Away from the Court
A teenage virtuoso from Bergamo, Pietro Locatelli conquered Rome and the courts of Europe. Then he walked away from all of them to spend thirty-five years in Amsterdam.
· 4 min read
Morton Feldman: The Dry Cleaner Who Stretched Time
Morton Feldman, the dry cleaner who composed at night, died on September 3, 1987, leaving behind music that dismantled every assumption about listening.
· 5 min read
Leonard Bernstein: The Maestro Who Snuck a Sax
The baton was missing — and that was the whole point. Leonard Bernstein stood before the New York Philharmonic radiating a kinetic charge that seemed to bypass …
· 4 min read
Classical Gas: The Accidental Crossover Hit
A comedy writer who won an Emmy for television satire also penned one of the most enduring instrumental guitar pieces of the rock era. Mason Williams, born in A…
· 4 min read
Leon Theremin: The Man Who Vanished Into Sound
A man steps into thin air and draws a trembling electronic voice from nothing. His hands never touch an instrument — yet the room fills with a glissando that se…
· 5 min read
Kathleen Battle: The Steelworker's Daughter Who Became a CD Icon
In the stifling heat of a Spoleto summer in 1972, a young music teacher from Cincinnati stepped onto the festival stage to sing Brahms. Thomas Schippers conduct…
· 6 min read
When Radio Moved More CDs Than the Critics Ever Could
When Classic FM launched in 1992, critics dismissed it as 'music for lifts'. The station went on to move more classical CDs than any critic ever could, reshaping the entire British record industry.
· 5 min read
How Sviatoslav Richter Became a 20th Century Giant
In a cramped Odessa apartment in 1921, an eight-year-old boy reunited with a father he barely remembered. The Civil War had torn them apart for three years, and…
· 5 min read
Liana Isakadze: The Soviet Prodigy Who Chose the Baton
She was a violinist who had won the world’s most discerning competitions before she turned twenty-five. Yet Liana Isakadze walked away from a guaranteed soloist…
· 4 min read
The Suburbs: Arcade Fire's Letter from the Edge of Town
Sixteen years ago this week, Arcade Fire released The Suburbs. The sprawling third album turned the quiet desperation of a cul-de-sac into a chart-topping, Grammy-winning phenomenon.
· 5 min read
John Cage: The Submarine and the Silence
John Cage inherited his father's instinct for making things disappear. He spent his career erasing intention, ego, and narrative from music.
· 4 min read