Meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  More than a composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a miracle who composed astonishing works in just about all genres . . .  symphonies, concertos, oratorios, keyboard works, chamber music, as well as enduring masterpieces for the opera stage. All this he did in...

Meet Ludwig van Beethoven

Many people believe that Ludwig van Beethoven was the greatest composer of them all. Yet his greatness did not come easily to him. It was, in fact, the result of a lifetime of hard work and extreme difficulties. In this unique presentation from Classical Archives, we...

Meet Joseph Haydn

  Let’s get to know the great composer Josef Haydn (1732-1809), surely among the most influential of all composers. He was instrumental in elevating string quartets, piano sonatas, symphonies and oratorios to the level of high art. Yet not everything about...

Meet Antonio Lucio Vivaldi

Illustri Signori, nobilissime Dame, vi porgo i miei ossequi, I am Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, born in Venice in the year 1678. From my earliest days the violin was my companion, though I was destined also for the Church. They called me Il Prete Rosso — the Red Priest — for...

Meet George Frideric Handel

  Ladies and gentlemen, I am George Frideric Handel, and it is my great pleasure to share with you a little of my life and music. I was born in Halle, in Germany, in 1685 — the very same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. My father had hoped I...