This section is conceived as a growing digital archive dedicated to the figures who have shaped the history of classical music, both through composition and interpretation.
Over time, it will progressively bring together comprehensive, structured, and carefully contextualized material on composers and performers across different periods, styles, and traditions. Each entry is intended to go beyond biographical outlines, offering a deeper understanding of artistic development, historical circumstances, aesthetic ideas, and performance practice.
For composers, the archive will gradually incorporate:
Full biographical narratives organized by periods
Historical and social context
Major works and creative phases
Documentary sources, manuscripts, and correspondence
Critical reception and long-term influence
For performers, including instrumentalists, singers, and conductors, the focus will be on:
Artistic formation and interpretative lineage
Repertoire and stylistic identity
Recorded legacy and performance tradition
Historical position within schools, movements, or generations
This is not a static catalogue but an evolving body of research. New composers, performers, texts, and visual materials will be added progressively, allowing the section to grow organically as part of a long-term archival project.
The aim of Composers and Performers is to offer readers a reliable, coherent, and intellectually grounded reference space, where musical lives and artistic legacies are presented with continuity, depth, and respect for historical complexity.
Aaron Copland, Eugene Ormandy, and Leslie Bassett backstage at the May Festival, April 28, 1976
Russian composer Aram Khatchaturian (1903 – 1978) at the Dorchester Hotel on a rare visit to England for two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Khatchaturian became a student of folksong and an authority on oriental music and composed symphonies, ballets, film and instrumental music. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Arthur Honegger, Ernest Ansermet, Roland-Manuel. Photographiés par F. Jullien, à Genève le 4 février 1925
Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears talking to Dmitry Shostakovich at an English music festival in Moscow. 1963 (Photo by Mikhail Ozersky)
Birthday party honoring Maurice Ravel, New York City, March 8, 1928. From left: Oscar Fried, conductor; Eva Gauthier, singer; Ravel at piano; Manoah Leide-Tedesco, composer-conductor; and composer George Gershwin.
David Oistrakh & Yehudi Menuhin in rehearsal for a performance at Albert Hall, London, 1962
В день прибытия в Прагу на фестиваль ‘Пражская весна’ Д. Ойстрах, Д. Шостакович, Л. Оборин. Май 1947
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Shostakovich with members of the Beethoven Quartet. March 1947 (Photo by Thomas Mcavoy)
Shostakovich with members of the Beethoven Quartet. March 1947 (Photo by Thomas Mcavoy)
Ernest Ansermet et Josef Krips à Montreux, 1950
Le maître Ernest Ansermet inscrit le plannig des répétitions avec l’Orchestre de la Suisse romande au Festival de Stanford. Tournée de l’OSR aux USA, juin-juillet 1966.
Man Ray (1890-1976). Ernest Ansermet, 1924
Man Ray (1890-1976). Ernest Ansermet, 1924
Man Ray (1890-1976). Ernest Ansermet, 1924
Eugene Ormandy and Bella Davidovich, May Festival, 1982
Eugene Ormandy and Van Cliburn at the 1967 May Festival at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
Eugene Ormandy and Yo-Yo Ma, May Festival 1982
Num. Inventaire : AM 1995-281 (167)
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68924 01.02.1964 Виолончелист Мстислав Ростропович (справа) и певица Галина Вишневская (слева). Михаил Озерский/РИА Новости
The Romanian composer and conductor George Enescu, right, with Soviet musicians: (sitting, from right) composer Dmitry Shostakovich with wife, Nina, pianist Emil Gilels with sister, Yelizaveta; (standing, from left) violinists Mikhail Fichtenholz, Leonid Kogan, composer Vladimir Vlasov and Boris Goldstein. 1946.
Igor Stravinsky & Benny Goodman, 1966
28th June 1964: Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971), left, and Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, at the Royal College of Music, London. (Photo by Erich Auerbach/Getty Images)
Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) the Russian composer is in conversation with Mstislav Rostropovich (1927 – ) the Russian cellist and composer. (Photo by Erich Auerbach/Getty Images)
597702 01.09.1962 Композитор, дирижер Игорь Федорович Стравинский (справа) и виолончелист Мстислав Леопольдович Ростропович во время беседы. Михаил Озерский/РИА Новости
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) with Arthur Honegger and Andrée Vaurabourg
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) with Arthur Honegger and Andrée Vaurabourg
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Jerome Levy, musical director at the Palmer House, Chicago, obtaining some information from Mr. Arthur Honegger, 1929 March 1
Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933). Leonard Bernstein, Walter Piston, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, 1970
Mikhail Ozerskiy – Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten after a concert in the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. 1 November 1964
478141 01.11.1968 Народные артисты СССР (слева направо) Мстислав Ростропович, Дмитрий Шостакович и Святослав Рихтер. Михаил Озерский/РИА Новости
Mstislav Rostropovich, George Balanchine and Yuri Grigorovich at the reception on the occasion of the U.S. New York City Ballet troupe tour in Moscow, 1 November 1972
by Paul Tanqueray, vintage bromide print, 1934
Sergei Prokofiev with his wife Mira Mendelssohn-Prokofieva. Nikolina Gora, 1946
Arnold Genthe (1869-1942). Prokofieff, 1918 Sept. 27
Composers Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturyan (left to right). 1945
Serge Prokofiev au piano, New York 1918
6623 08.09.1956 Пианист Святослав Рихтер (слева) и виолончелист Мстислав Ростропович (справа). Михаил Озерский/РИА Новости
6583 28.09.1965 Пианист Святослав Рихтер и виолончелист Мстислав Ростропович. Михаил Озерский/РИА Новости
Vladimir Horowitz and Eugene Ormandy, April 30, 1978
Vladimir Horowitz with wife Wanda Toscanini and Eugene Ormandy in Hill Auditorium Lobby
Г. Нейгауз и Ю. Москвитин (Дания), II международный конкурс им. П. И. Чайковского, 1962
Д.Шостакович с К.Кондрашиным во время репетиции XIII симфонии, декабрь 1962
Д. Шостакович, Н. Мясковский, В. Шебалин с квартетом им. Бетховена. 1940
French composer Achille Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918), circa 1900. Original Artwork: A lithograph by Dujardin after a photograph by Otto. (Photo by Otto/Getty Images)
Nadar (1820-1910). Claude Debussy, 1905
Nadar (1820-1910). Claude Debussy, 1905
Edvard and Nina Grieg, Percy Grainger and Julius Röntgen, 1907
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Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). Portrait d’Erik Satie dans l’atelier, 1922