This article was published on January 14, 2025, the day Caterina Valente would have celebrated her 94th birthday. There were few singers whose voice was …
Glenn Miller: His vision of swing
Writing an arrangement was the best way for him to express himself as a musician: With his swing arrangements, Glenn Miller shaped the world of …
Charles Trenet: His chansons tell stories
There are melodies and lyrics that one never forgets: La mer by Charles Trenet is without question one of these melodies and lyrics. Like no …
Dmitri Shostakovich: The musical bridge builder
“Dmitri is a good name. We’ll call him Dmitri,” the priest present at Dmitri Shostakovich’s baptism is said to have decided. His parents actually wanted …
Rose Laurens: The French chanson of the 1980s
In the winter of 1983, it was the song Africa that got people dancing in France: to this day, Rose Laurens is best known for …
Enrico Caruso: The Napoleon of the gramophone
The name Enrico Caruso is synonymous with the art of opera: telling an opera singer that he “sounds like Caruso” is probably the greatest compliment …
Ricky Nelson: His singing even fascinated John Wayne
If one wants to tell the story of rock’n roll, one cannot leave out his name: before Elvis Presley or the Beatles dominated show business, …
Scott Joplin: The origins of Jazz
When the term ragtime is mentioned, one inevitably thinks of an unmistakable musician who invented the ragtime genre: The composer and pianist Scott Joplin (1867/68 …
Tony Bennett: He carried jazz into the 21st century
Tony Bennett was taught bel canto at the Lee Strasberg School in New York: But he had no intention of becoming an opera singer. Rather, …
Victoria de los Ángeles: An angelic voice (2.)
Continued from part one In his biography of Victoria de los Ángeles, Peter Roberts explains the great contrast between the worlds from which the singer …