Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Love

Renoir’s joyful, discreet and tender vision, devoid of any hint of sentimentality, ribaldry or drama, distinguishes him from the other painters of his day.

The artist locates the interactions he depicts in his paintings in the public space, the new, modern social and natural settings - theaters, restaurants, guinguettes, boulevards and gardens - frequented by various social classes.

Theses popular "scenes" of modern love encouraged greater freedom of morals and the blossoming of "illicit" loves, in an era when bourgeois conventions and religious morality still governed romantic and sexual relationships.

Nathalie Picoulet, 1968 | Dreams in pastel

French figure painter Nathalie Picoulet was born in Amiens, France.

After displaying an early talent for drawing, she studied the history of Art and Design before deciding to pursue a full-time career as an artist in pastels.

Since her entrance into the world of pastels, she has been doing portraits, landscapes, and seascapes. Eventually, she discovered the subject that has brought her the greatest fame and acclaim: the female figure.

Lionello Balestrieri | Beethoven, 1900

In 1899, Lionello Balestrieri (12 September 1872 - October 24, 1958) painted a canvas depicting Beethoven -Kreutzer Sonata-, which after winning an award at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris and in 1901 in Venice, brought him fame.

The painting depicts a dimly lit garret-like apartment with a strand of listeners along the left wall, each in their own mood, while a violinist plays between them and a furnace.

Frederick Morgan | Romantic / Genre painter

Frederick Morgan (1847-1927), was an English painter of portraits, animals, domestic and country scenes.

He became known for his idyllic genre scenes of childhood.

Morgan was born in London. He was commonly known as Fred Morgan and was the son of John Morgan, a successful genre artist sometimes known as 'Jury Morgan' (after one of his paintings The Gentlemen of the Jury).

Leonard Cohen / Jack Vettriano | Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now

dance me on and on dance me very tenderly

and dance me very long we’re both of us beneath our love

we’re both of us above

dance me to the end of love

The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone by Vittorio Corcos

Italian painter Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933) was known for genre works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women, in moments of repose and recreation.

Born in Livorno, Italy, he studied drawing and painting at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence under Enrico Pollastrini.

He then traveled to Paris where he met Léon Bonnat, and signed a contract with the Goupil and Cie, he was able to supplement his income as a portrait painter with illustrations for magazines.

Mozart | Rondo alla Turca, 1783

The Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 / 300i, by Austrian classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is a piano sonata in three movements.

The sonata was published by Artaria in 1784, alongside Nos. 10 and 12 (K. 330 and K. 332).

The third movement of this sonata, the "Rondo alla Turca", or "Turkish March", is often heard on its own and regarded as one of Mozart's best-known piano pieces.

Théodore Frère | Orientalist painter

Charles-Théodore Frère (1814-1888) was a French Orientalist painter.

His younger brother, Pierre-Édouard, and his nephew and namesake, Charles Edouard Frère, were also painters.

Painter of historical subjects, genre scenes, local scenes, landscapes (with figures) and seascapes; watercolourist and draughtsman. Orientalist.

The son of a Paris music publisher, Frère studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Léon Cogniet and Camille Roqueplan.

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.

Modigliani, the Secret of empty eyes in his portraits

"When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes" - Amedeo Modigliani (Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris, 1884-1920) once said.

Of all the striking characteristics seen in Modigliani’s portraits, be they the elongated visages or the disfigured features, the mysterious, hazy eyes of the sitters capture the true essence of the painter’s style.

In fact, while he would outline the eyes, he'd rarely paint the pupils, except when he had a close, nurturing relationship with them - enabling a basis for emotional intelligence.

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

Paul Seignac | Genre painter

During the 19th century, genre scenes were a popular subject throughout Europe.

The French painter Paul Guillaume Seignac (1826-1904) specialized in genre paintings depicting children, rural life and everyday scenes.

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.

François-Alfred Delobbe | Genre painter

François-Alfred Delobbe, (13 October 1835, Paris - 10 February 1920, Paris) was a French painter in the Naturalist style.

He was a student of Thomas Couture and William Bouguereau at the École des Beaux-arts, where he had been admitted at the age of sixteen, and had his debut at the Salon in 1861 with a portrait of his mother.