NPR Staff

Described as the greatest living Wagnerian tenor, Kaufmann is using the Richard Wagner's bicentennial to reacquaint listeners with the controversial composer's work.

After more than three decades as a soloist, violinist Joshua Bell has taken over the venerable Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, leading the orchestra in a new recording of Beethoven symphonies.

The Roxy Music singer gives his classic songs a jazz makeover on his new album, The Jazz Age.

Shorter says that in combos led by John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Art Blakey, he learned a crucial rule of being an effective bandleader: Leave the musicians alone.

The Mendelssohns grew up making music together in Berlin at the beginning of the 19th century. Felix, younger by four years, became one of history's most brilliant composers. Fanny, a strong-willed pianist but worried about her worth as a composer, has been neglected.

Haden's new album, Petra Goes to the Movies, recasts movie scores in an a cappella setting. From Psycho to The Social Network, her layered vocals offer a captivating interpretation of classic — and not-so-classic — theme music.

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

The newest album by the trumpeter and composer features his arrangements of hymns that his mother, who recently died of ovarian cancer, asked him to perform at her funeral service.

Myrlie Evers-Williams is the widow of assassinated civil rights activist Medgar Evers. After her husband's death, she became a noted activist herself. But music has always been one of her loves, and she's about to fulfill a longtime dream on the Carnegie stage.

The Dutch violinist and conductor, often called "The King of the Waltz," is one of the most commercially successful classical artists in history. His latest release is an album and DVD of Christmas music called Home for the Holidays.