There are very few composers that are lucky enough to have their work described using the adjectives ‘luxurious’, ‘mysterious’, and ‘exuberant’, yet Kaija Saariaho’s work more than amply fulfils this objective. She is one of the best-known living composers working in the field of both

Dramatic, Dreamy, Elegant, Experimental, Fantastic, Feminine, Pioneering, Playful

Franz Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer and one of the most important composers in the Classical period. For most of his career, he was Kapellmeister (music director) for the wealthy Esterházy family, writing numerous symphonies and chamber music works. Haydn epitomized the Classic style, with r

Classical, Classical era, Clean, Elegant, Sophisticated

As both a conductor and a virtuoso pianist, Daniel Barenboim approaches each of his projects from a dual perspective: he sees a piece as both a physical, sonorous expression and as a structural whole. For Barenboim, integrating the two perspectives is essential to making good music. "The element of p

20th-century music, Eclectic, Elegant, Pathos, Sophisticated

By all accounts, Peter Tchaikovsky was an emotionally troubled man. He suffered from nervous depression, which was heightened by the constant social presssure to hide his homosexuality. The composer had affairs with women and even married Antonina Miliukova -- with disastrous emotional effects to bot

Dark, Dramatic, Elegant, Grand, Lush, Psychological, Romantic music, Voluminous