Although he died at an early age, Gershwin created a body of work that was not merely extensive, but also enduring. His music is still frequently performed more than 50 years after his death. Gershwin absorbed all the musical developments coming from the jazz world, so it is not surprising that his w

20th-century music, Charming, Epic, Overflowing

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

The exact circumstances of Giuseppe Verdi's birth are lost to history; history, and we, have wanted to know them. Some speculate he was born on October 10, 1813, others turned his supposed birthplace into a national monument, but the composer himself refused to confirm the accuracy of these biographi

Epic, Lyrical, Melancholy, Pathos

The great Modernist composer Benjamin Britten was born in Suffolk in 1913. He studied privately with composer Frank Bridge and later went to school at the Royal College of Music in London. Although he picked up technique effortlessly and gleaned a great deal of knowledge by following the examples of

20th-century music, Eclectic, Epic, Monumental, Queer