Hans von Bülow
1830–1894
Conductor
German
Classical Archive · Performers
Performers
Explore 181 outstanding performers whose artistry shaped the history of recorded and live classical music — conductors, pianists, organists, violinists, wind players and the great voices of opera.
By category
181 Featured Performers
A living portrait of performance history, organised by discipline and designed to grow into individual research profiles with recordings, repertoire, career chronology and documentary sources.
Arthur Nikisch
1855–1922
Conductor
Hungarian / German
Felix Weingartner
1863–1942
Conductor
Austrian
Arturo Toscanini
1867–1957
Conductor
Italian
Wilhelm Furtwängler
1886–1954
Conductor
German
Bruno Walter
1876–1962
Conductor
German / American
Otto Klemperer
1885–1973
Conductor
German / American
Willem Mengelberg
1871–1951
Conductor
Dutch
Leopold Stokowski
1882–1977
Conductor
British / American
Serge Koussevitzky
1874–1951
Conductor
Russian / American
Sir Thomas Beecham
1879–1961
Conductor
British
Fritz Busch
1890–1951
Conductor
German
Erich Kleiber
1890–1956
Conductor
Austrian
Clemens Krauss
1893–1954
Conductor
Austrian
Pierre Monteux
1875–1964
Conductor
French / American
Charles Munch
1891–1968
Conductor
French
George Szell
1897–1970
Conductor
Hungarian / American
Fritz Reiner
1888–1963
Conductor
Hungarian / American
Eugene Ormandy
1899–1985
Conductor
Hungarian / American
Herbert von Karajan
1908–1989
Conductor
Austrian
Leonard Bernstein
1918–1990
Conductor
American
Rafael Kubelík
1914–1996
Conductor
Czech
Carlo Maria Giulini
1914–2005
Conductor
Italian
Sir John Barbirolli
1899–1970
Conductor
British
Sir Adrian Boult
1889–1983
Conductor
British
André Cluytens
1905–1967
Conductor
Belgian / French
Igor Markevitch
1912–1983
Conductor
Russian / French
Dimitri Mitropoulos
1896–1960
Conductor
Greek / American
Ferenc Fricsay
1914–1963
Conductor
Hungarian
Karl Böhm
1894–1981
Conductor
Austrian
Joseph Keilberth
1908–1968
Conductor
German
Hans Knappertsbusch
1888–1965
Conductor
German
Evgeny Mravinsky
1903–1988
Conductor
Russian
Kirill Kondrashin
1914–1981
Conductor
Russian
Yevgeny Svetlanov
1928–2002
Conductor
Russian
Sergiu Celibidache
1912–1996
Conductor
Romanian
Bernard Haitink
1929–2021
Conductor
Dutch
Sir Colin Davis
1927–2013
Conductor
British
Pierre Boulez
1925–2016
Conductor
French
Claudio Abbado
1933–2014
Conductor
Italian
Carlos Kleiber
1930–2004
Conductor
Austrian / German
Georg Solti
1912–1997
Conductor
Hungarian / British
Lorin Maazel
1930–2014
Conductor
American
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
1929–2016
Conductor
Austrian
John Eliot Gardiner
1943–
Conductor
British
Simon Rattle
1955–
Conductor
British
Seiji Ozawa
1935–2024
Conductor
Japanese
Mariss Jansons
1943–2019
Conductor
Latvian
Riccardo Muti
1941–
Conductor
Italian
Gustav Mahler
1860–1911
Conductor
Austrian
Clara Schumann
1819–1896
Pianist
German
Franz Liszt
1811–1886
Pianist
Hungarian
Anton Rubinstein
1829–1894
Pianist
Russian
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
1860–1941
Pianist
Polish
Ferruccio Busoni
1866–1924
Pianist
Italian / German
Sergei Rachmaninoff
1873–1943
Pianist
Russian / American
Artur Schnabel
1882–1951
Pianist
Austrian / American
Alfred Cortot
1877–1962
Pianist
French / Swiss
Josef Hofmann
1876–1957
Pianist
Polish / American
Leopold Godowsky
1870–1938
Pianist
Polish / American
Edwin Fischer
1886–1960
Pianist
Swiss
Wilhelm Backhaus
1884–1969
Pianist
German
Walter Gieseking
1895–1956
Pianist
German / French
Arthur Rubinstein
1887–1982
Pianist
Polish / American
Claudio Arrau
1903–1991
Pianist
Chilean
Rudolf Serkin
1903–1991
Pianist
Austrian / American
Vladimir Horowitz
1903–1989
Pianist
Russian / American
Sviatoslav Richter
1915–1997
Pianist
Russian
Dinu Lipatti
1917–1950
Pianist
Romanian
Glenn Gould
1932–1982
Pianist
Canadian
Friedrich Gulda
1930–2000
Pianist
Austrian
Alicia de Larrocha
1923–2009
Pianist
Spanish
Martha Argerich
1941–
Pianist
Argentine
Emil Gilels
1916–1985
Pianist
Russian
Maurizio Pollini
1942–2024
Pianist
Italian
Marie-Claire Alain
1926–2013
Organist
French
Karl Richter
1926–1981
Organist / Conductor
German
Helmut Walcha
1907–1991
Organist
German
Trevor Pinnock
1946–
Organist / Harpsichordist
British
E. Power Biggs
1906–1977
Organist
British / American
Simon Preston
1938–2022
Organist / Conductor
British
Joseph Joachim
1831–1907
Violinist
Hungarian / German
Pablo de Sarasate
1844–1908
Violinist
Spanish
Eugène Ysaÿe
1858–1931
Violinist
Belgian
Fritz Kreisler
1875–1962
Violinist
Austrian / American
Jacques Thibaud
1880–1953
Violinist
French
Carl Flesch
1873–1944
Violinist
Hungarian
Bronisław Huberman
1882–1947
Violinist
Polish
Jascha Heifetz
1901–1987
Violinist
Russian / American
Yehudi Menuhin
1916–1999
Violinist
American / British
Nathan Milstein
1904–1992
Violinist
Russian / American
David Oistrakh
1908–1974
Violinist
Russian
Isaac Stern
1920–2001
Violinist
American
Henryk Szeryng
1918–1988
Violinist
Polish / Mexican
Arthur Grumiaux
1921–1986
Violinist
Belgian
Christian Ferras
1933–1982
Violinist
French
Zino Francescatti
1902–1991
Violinist
French
Leonid Kogan
1924–1982
Violinist
Russian
Ginette Neveu
1919–1949
Violinist
French
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Ida Haendel
1928–2020
Violinist
Polish / British
.jpg)
Itzhak Perlman
1945–
Violinist
Israeli / American
Marcel Moyse
1889–1984
Flute
French
Jean-Pierre Rampal
1922–2000
Flute
French
James Galway
1939–
Flute
Irish
Léon Goossens
1897–1988
Oboe
British
Heinz Holliger
1939–
Oboe
Swiss
Pierre Pierlot
1921–2007
Oboe
French
Reginald Kell
1906–1981
Clarinet
British
Jack Brymer
1915–2003
Clarinet
British
Karl Leister
1937–
Clarinet
German
Sabine Meyer
1959–
Clarinet
German
Benny Goodman
1909–1986
Clarinet
American
Maurice Allard
1923–2004
Bassoon
French
Klaus Thunemann
1937–
Bassoon
German
Dennis Brain
1921–1957
Horn
British
Hermann Baumann
1934–2023
Horn
German
Barry Tuckwell
1931–2020
Horn
Australian
Radek Baborák
1976–
Horn
Czech
Maurice André
1933–2012
Trumpet
French
Adolf Scherbaum
1909–2000
Trumpet
Austrian / German
Wynton Marsalis
1961–
Trumpet
American
Christian Lindberg
1958–
Trombone
Swedish
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Frans Brüggen
1934–2014
Recorder / Flute
Dutch
Nellie Melba
1861–1931
Soprano
Australian
Lotte Lehmann
1888–1976
Soprano
German / American
Rosa Ponselle
1897–1981
Soprano
American
Kirsten Flagstad
1895–1962
Soprano
Norwegian
Maria Callas
1923–1977
Soprano
Greek / American
Renata Tebaldi
1922–2004
Soprano
Italian
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
1915–2006
Soprano
German / British
Victoria de los Ángeles
1923–2005
Soprano
Spanish
Birgit Nilsson
1918–2005
Soprano
Swedish
Leontyne Price
1927–
Soprano
American
Joan Sutherland
1926–2010
Soprano
Australian
Montserrat Caballé
1933–2018
Soprano
Spanish
Lucia Popp
1939–1993
Soprano
Slovak
Gundula Janowitz
1937–
Soprano
Austrian
Mirella Freni
1935–2020
Soprano
Italian
Kathleen Ferrier
1912–1953
Contralto
British
Marian Anderson
1897–1993
Contralto
American
Christa Ludwig
1928–2021
Mezzo-soprano
German / Austrian
Janet Baker
1933–
Mezzo-soprano
British
Marilyn Horne
1934–
Mezzo-soprano
American
Teresa Berganza
1933–2022
Mezzo-soprano
Spanish
Ebe Stignani
1903–1974
Mezzo-soprano
Italian
Enrico Caruso
1873–1921
Tenor
Italian
Beniamino Gigli
1890–1957
Tenor
Italian
Lauritz Melchior
1890–1973
Tenor
Danish / American
Jussi Björling
1911–1960
Tenor
Swedish
Richard Tauber
1891–1948
Tenor
Austrian / British
Tito Schipa
1888–1965
Tenor
Italian
Mario Del Monaco
1915–1982
Tenor
Italian
Giuseppe Di Stefano
1921–2008
Tenor
Italian
Franco Corelli
1921–2003
Tenor
Italian
Jon Vickers
1926–2015
Tenor
Canadian
Fritz Wunderlich
1930–1966
Tenor
German
Nicolai Gedda
1925–2017
Tenor
Swedish
Plácido Domingo
1941–
Tenor / Baritone
Spanish
Luciano Pavarotti
1935–2007
Tenor
Italian
Mattia Battistini
1856–1928
Baritone
Italian
Titta Ruffo
1877–1953
Baritone
Italian
Giuseppe De Luca
1876–1950
Baritone
Italian
Lawrence Tibbett
1896–1960
Baritone
American
Tito Gobbi
1913–1984
Baritone
Italian
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
1925–2012
Baritone
German
Hermann Prey
1929–1998
Baritone
German
Sherrill Milnes
1935–
Baritone
American
Leonard Warren
1911–1960
Baritone
American
Piero Cappuccilli
1926–2005
Baritone
Italian
Feodor Chaliapin
1873–1938
Bass
Russian
Ezio Pinza
1892–1957
Bass
Italian
Cesare Siepi
1923–2010
Bass
Italian
Boris Christoff
1914–1993
Bass
Bulgarian
Jordi Savall
1941–
Conductor / Viola da gamba
Spanish / Catalan
Sigiswald Kuijken
1944–
Violinist / Conductor
Belgian
Eugen Jochum
1902–1987
Conductor
German
Hans Rosbaud
1895–1962
Conductor
Austrian
Hermann Scherchen
1891–1966
Conductor
German
Rudolf Kempe
1910–1976
Conductor
German
William Steinberg
1899–1978
Conductor
German / American
Erich Leinsdorf
1912–1993
Conductor
Austrian / American
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