Category: 1860-1869

In the 1820s, Gioachino Rossini had been an unstoppable force of nature, turning out brilliant and vibrant operas at a mindboggling rate. His opéras bouffes in particular had set a gold standard for the rest of Europe. But then, not long after completing his masterly Guillaume Tell and still well short of his fortieth birthday, the operatic assembly line had suddenly ground to a halt …

Cesare Pugni was a highly accomplished composer of ballet music who never quite mastered the rest of his life. Supremely talented as he was, he was prone to destructive habits and very good at blowing up his career from time to time …

There was something innately cool about Johannes Brahms. Down to earth, unpretentious and blessed with a rich sense of humour, he was the Romantic who never got too carried away.

He had an uncanny knack for always appearing to know what he was doing and where he was going. As an artist, he was a model for …

Musical fashions can be as fickle as authoritarian regimes, especially if you’re a composer. One moment your name is everywhere, everyone wants a piece of you and you are feted as an integral symbol of the zeitgeist. Then a coup d’etat swings by and switches government, and suddenly you’re out in the cold …