André Rieu | Strauss party

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (1 October, 1949) is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known as the founder of the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.

André Rieu has legions of fans worldwide and his performances have become major events in the calendar that are always guaranteed to sell out.

André Rieu tours Europe and the USA constantly and has also toured Australia and the Far East regularly.

Queen Nefertiti's Long Lost Tomb

QV66 is the tomb of Nefertari, the Great Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, in Egypt's Valley of the Queens.

It was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli (the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin) in 1904.

Nefertari, which means "beautiful companion", was Ramesses II's favorite wife; he went out of his way to make this obvious, referring to her as "the one for whom the sun shines" in his writings, built the Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel to idolize her as a deity, and commissioned portraiture wall paintings.

Johann Strauss | Morning Papers, Op 279 | Viennese waltz

Morgenblätter (Morning Papers), Op. 279, is a Viennese waltz composed by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) in 1863 and first performed on 12 January 1864 at the Sofiensaal in Vienna.

The work's genesis was attributed to the composition of a waltz by Jacques Offenbach later titled "Abendblätter" when Offenbach dedicated his work to the influential Vienna Authors' and Journalists' Association (Presseclub Concordia).

Camille Claudel | La valse, 1889-1905

Torna a Surriento!

"Torna a Surriento" is a Neapolitan song composed in 1894 by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, the poet and painter Giambattista De Curtis.

The song was copyrighted officially in 1905, and has become one of the most popular of this traditional genre.

Others include:

╰┈➤ "O sole mio",

╰┈➤ "Funiculì funiculà",

╰┈➤ "Santa Lucia".

Richard Wagner | Ride of the Valkyries

The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) is the popular name of the prelude to the first scene of the third and last act of Die Walküre, the second of the four epic music dramas that constitute the operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (English: The Ring of the Nibelung), composed by Richard Wagner.

As a separate piece, the "Ride" is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes.

Peter Nicolai Arbo (Norwegian historical painter, 1831-1892) | The Valkyrie

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, incidental music by German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written to accompany performances of Shakespeare’s play "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" at the Prussian royal court.

Mendelssohn became familiar with Shakespeare by reading German translations as a boy, and in 1827, at age 17, he was inspired to write a piece capturing the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s comedy.

The piece, a concert overture, quickly became a popular favourite throughout Europe.

Marc Chagall | La branche de gui or Le rêve, 1928

The Story behind "Caruso" song

"Caruso" is a song written by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla (1943-2012) in 1986.

It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor.

Following Lucio Dalla's death, the song entered the Italian Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two consecutive weeks.

The song simply tells about the pain and longings of a man who is about to die while he is looking into the eyes of a girl who was very dear to him.

The lyrics contain various subtle references to people and places in Caruso's life.

Ferdinando Sapio | Sorrento

Claude Debussy | Danse Sacrée

"Dances for Harp and String Orchestra", in full in the original, "Danses pour harpe chromatique avec accompagnement d'orchestre d'instruments à cordes" (Dances for chromatic harp with string orchestra accompaniment), is a 1904 work by Claude Debussy.

There are two sections: Danse sacrée and Danse profane, and the work is sometimes billed accordingly.

It is a two-movement work, of about ten minutes' duration.

MAuguste Alexandre Hirsch | Calliope enseignant la musique à Orphée, 1865 | Musée d'art et d'archéologie du Périgord

Mozart: "A little night music", 1787

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

The German title means "a little night music" and is one of Mozart's most famous works.

The serenade is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, cello, and double bass, but it is often performed by string orchestras.

Claude Debussy | Arabesque No. 2. | Allegretto scherzando

The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo.

It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills.

The piece makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano.

Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale.

It closes in a similar fashion to the first arabesque.

Claude Monet | Flower Beds at Vétheuil | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Offenbach's Can-can | The scandalous Moulin Rouge's dance

The French Cancan dance is an eight-minute performance facing the audience, during which dancers measuring 5’7” tall lead the dance to a piece of music by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880).

It’s an art that requires Parisian cabaret dancers to have balance, flexibility, acrobatic ability and rhythm.

They have to be able to do the splits and perform impressive moves like the “port d’armes”, the “cathedral” and the “military salute”.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec | At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance, 1889-90 | Philadelphia Museum of Art

Johann Sebastian Bach | The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846

The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, is a keyboard composition written by German composer and musician of the late Baroque period Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

It is the first prelude and fugue in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, a series of 48 preludes and fugues by the composer.

An early version of the prelude, BWV 846A, is found in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Francis Sydney Muschamp (British, 1851-1929) | A musical interlude

Paquita

Paquita is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus.

Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.

Paquita is the creation of French composer Édouard Deldevez and Paris Opéra Ballet Master Joseph Mazilier.

Sergiy Lyacevitch | Dancing flower

The Dying Swan

The Dying Swan (originally The Swan) is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des animaux as a pièce d'occasion for the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed it about 4,000 times.

The short ballet (four minutes) follows the last moments in the life of a swan, and was first presented in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905.

The ballet has since influenced modern interpretations of Odette, heroine of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, and has inspired non-traditional interpretations as well as various adaptations.

Antoon van Welie | Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan, 1938

Léopold Robert | Romantic genre painter

Louis Léopold Robert (1794-1835) was a Swiss painter.

He was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel) in Switzerland, but left his native place with the engraver Jean Girardet at the age of sixteen for Paris.

He was on the eve of obtaining the grand prix for engraving when the events of 1815 blasted his hopes, for Neuchâtel was restored to Prussia, and Robert was struck off the list of competitors as a foreigner.

Peter Paul Rubens | Old woman and boy with candles, 1616-1617

An old woman gazes ahead, shielding her eyes from the candlelight, while the boy behind her holds his candle, ready to be lit.

The panel is painted in the style of Caravaggio, whose work Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) had seen in Italy.

This style is characterised by its exciting effects of light and unpolished naturalism.

Rubens did not make this painting to be sold; instead he retained possession of it. He probably used it as study material for the pupils in his studio.

Peter Paul Rubens | Old Woman and Boy with Candles, 1616-1617 | Museum Mauritshuis The Hague

Radetzky March

The "Radetzky March", Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss (Senior) which was first performed on 31 August 1848 in Vienna to celebrate the victory of the Austrian Empire under Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (the piece's namesake) over the Italian forces at the Battle of Custoza, during the First Italian War of Independence.

Francesca (Fanny) Carlini | Fruttivendolo veneziano

Francesca (Fanny) Carlini (Venezia, 1859-1944), figlia del ritrattista Giulio Carlini (Venezia, 1826-1887), segue con buon successo la strada del padre.

E’ una delle prime donne a diplomarsi all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, intraprendendo poi una carriera che la vedrà vincitrice nel 1884 della Medaglia d’argento del Crystal Palace a Londra.

Elli Michler | I wish you Time

I don't wish you all sorts of gifts.

I just wish you, what most people don't have.

I wish you the time to be happy and to laugh

and if you use it, you can make something out of it.

I wish you the time for your doings and thinking,

not only for yourself, but also to give away.

Franz Liszt | La Campanella

"La campanella" (Italian for "The little bell") is the subtitle given to the third of Franz Liszt's six Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141 (1851). It is in the key of G-sharp minor.

"La campanella" is a revision of an earlier version from 1838, the Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, S. 140.

Its melody comes from the final movement of Niccolò Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, where the tune was reinforced by a "little handbell".