Sergei, or Serge, Diaghilev is a dance history icon, having founded the Ballets Russes in 1909 with the intention of bringing ballet to the general public instead of just the aristocracy. He was a pioneer, creating modern ballets with uncoventional musical scores. With the Ballets Russes, Diaghilev

Clever, Complex, Epic, Event, Pioneering

I Fagioliini are the winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble Award, 2006. I Fagiolini is acknowledged worldwide as the most innovative British vocal ensemble specialising in early music. Their stylish staged productions of Renaissance and Baroque music-theatre works together with virtuo

Fantastic, Feminine, Funny, Glamour, Layered, Medieval (476-1350), Medieval era, Playful, Renaissance (1350-1650), Renaissance era, Smart, Sublime

The harmonic foundations on which Western music had rested since the Renaissance got a strong shaking in the earthquake that was Romanticism. Dissonant notes were sounded -- and left unresolved. In time, the need for a tonal center was questioned, and by the turn of the century, atonal music had arri

20th-century music, Dissonant, Moody

What is it that makes soprano Maria Callas stand out from all the other outstanding vocalists of her time? What is it that persuades new opera fans to buy her albums, more than 25 years after her death, when other opera singers are forgotten immediately after their retirement? Most people insist that

Classical, Epic, Feminine, Political, Sublime