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A hugely successful composer of bel canto opera, Gaetano Donizetti had a lasting impact, with many of his operas entering regular rotation in houses around the world for almost 200 years. 

Music ran through the veins of Johann Strauss II and – despite his father’s opposition – he went on to compose many of the greatest waltzes ever.

From the early succès de scandale of Salome to a golden Indian summer, Richard Strauss’ long career spanned eight decades. Enjoy some highlights in our playlist. 

From Henry Purcell to George Benjamin, a set of ten operas to demonstrate that English is not just a language for prose and poetry, but also a vibrant language for opera.

If Georges Bizet had written only Carmen, he would still have earned his place in classical music’s Hall of Fame, yet there is much more to this composer who died tragically young. 

Giuseppe Verdi was more than just an opera composer. He became a political figurehead. Our playlist includes nine of his most famous operas and his Requiem, described as “an opera in ecclesiastical garb”. 

Gustav Holst is famous for his astrological orchestral suite The Planets, but there’s more to discover in his eclectic catalogue, particularly inspired by his interests in travel and Hindu literature. 

Who's afraid of Arnold Schoenberg? His music was met with great hostility from critics and audiences, but his revolutionary “serial” method became the foundation for musical modernism in the 20th century.

Johannes Brahms was a big supporter of Antonín Dvořák and justly so, for the Czech master, who made it big in America, composed music full of bucolic good humour and Romantic richness. 

“Cathedrals in sound” or “symphonic boa constrictors”? Bruckner composed eleven symphonies, but how many make our top ten playlist? 

Janáček was heavily influenced by folk music and speech inflections of his native Moravia. The vast majority of his greatest works come from his final decade, inspired by his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová.

Gabriel Fauré is often obscured by the twin shadows of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, but his “pure music”, especially the luminous, sublime late music with its daring harmonic progressions, still has the power to astonish. 

Bohuslav Martinů was a true cosmopolitan: Czech, but spending much of his life in France and the United States, writing in an eclectic style that drew on many influences. 

If Mozart and Beethoven are the Son and the Holy Ghost of classical music’s Holy Trinity, it is surely Johann Sebastian Bach who is the Father. 

The father of Czech music, Bedřich Smetana was born 200 years ago. We celebrate his bicentenary by exploring his works, from the popular Má vlast to less-heard piano music. 

George Frideric Handel was quite the cosmopolitan composer, travelling from Germany to Italy and London, where he eventually settled, becoming a naturalised British citizen and court composer for the big ceremonial occasions. 

Dubbed “half monk, half rascal”, Francis Poulenc was a complex composer, his music ranging from witty vaudeville to choral music of religious fervour. 

Beethoven's achievements were huge; he composed the greatest symphony cycle ever, as well as string quartets, piano sonatas and concertos which all broke new ground.

Maria Callas was the most iconic soprano of the 20th century. We mark her centenary by looking at ten of her most important roles.

A tour of Britten, celebrating the finest works by the composer who launched the English operatic renaissance. 

Conformist or closet dissident? Dmitri Shostakovich had to adapt, chameleon-like, to the changing political climate in the Soviet Union, toeing the party line where necessary, but planting his music with coded messages.

His symphonies are now mainstays of orchestra seasons, but during his lifetime Gustav Mahler was more famous as a rigorous conductor, his music misunderstood and scorned. 

Quintessentially English or establishment outsider? Elgar was seen as provincial – and was never more at home than in his beloved Malvern Hills – but he had a European outlook.

Born 100 years ago, the music of Hungarian composer György Ligeti is varied and multiplicitous, displaying a voracious curiosity and a multifaceted imagination.

Drawing on the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), Wagner is best remembered for his extraordinary music dramas, not least the monumental, 15-hour Ring cycle.

“I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices.” Prokofiev was one of the most important Russian composers, writing in a variety of forms and happy to challenge conventions. 

Possibly the greatest pianist of the 20th century and one of its greatest composers too, Sergei Rachmaninov left a relatively small catalogue – only 45 published works – yet many of them appear frequently in concert programmes. 

A playlist presenting a multiplicity of musics from eight women composers from around the world, with premieres in 2023.

“I've written only one masterpiece. Unfortunately it has no music in it.” To which work was the self-critical Maurice Ravel referring and where does it come in our playlist of the dapper Frenchman’s top ten?

Composer of some 500 concertos and around 90 operas, there's much more to the “Red Priest”, Antonio Vivaldi, than the ubiquitous Four Seasons. 

“Give me a laundry bill and I will set it to music.” Composition seemed to come easily to Rossini. He wrote around 40 operas in only 17 years... but then he suddenly stopped. Enjoy our top ten selection. 

Child prodigy, keen traveller, champion of Bach – Felix Mendelssohn packed a lot of music into his short life, music that teems with freshness and vigour.

Many of Schubert's “late” masterpieces – he died aged only 31 – are included in our editor’s selection of his top ten works. 

How to select a top ten from over 600 works by one of the world's greatest composers? An impossible task...

Giacomo Puccini knew how to pull the heartstrings in his music. He made his soprano characters suffer... but also composed some of his best music for them. 

Exploring choral selections from Sweden, Chile, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Dominica and Nigeria, to bring a variety of festive splendour to the end of this year.

A Belgian in Paris, César Franck was a leading organist, composer and teacher in the 19th century, yet his music has slipped out of fashion in recent decades. There is much to enjoy in our playlist.

The tragedy of the invasion of Ukraine has rejuvenated interest in Ukrainian music for many across Europe. This playlist glances the surface of a musical culture that runs incredibly deep.

The world stands agog as the US undergoes another election. These composers sought to reveal the brokenness of US politics – and the ability of the American people to come together in spite of it.

A musical exploration of the roots of Halloween (and associated festivals La Toussaint and El Día de los Muertos) – when the dead come alive and walk among us.

Mark Pullinger celebrates this quintessentially English composer with a list of RVW's most inspiring works.

Star organist, conductor and broadcaster Anna Lapwood is our guest curator, presenting her top ten – for today – favourites works for her instrument. 

Mark and Elisabeth travel to the sinister worlds of singing automata and seven-headed mouse kings to bring you the best works inspired – and composed – by ETA Hoffmann.

To mark Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in 2022, here is a playlist of music associated with the monarch, including many works performed at her coronation in Westminster Abbey. 

“Father of the Symphony” Joseph Haydn composed 104 (numbered) symphonies which is a plenty large enough pool from which to select our top ten. 

From child prodigy to being perceived as a crusty conservative, Camille Saint-Saëns' life spanned over eight decades. Enjoy our musical selection of his very best works... plus a few surprises!

Mark and Elisabeth descend to Hell to find the right soundtrack for Dante Week and to mark the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death.

Who says that classical music is obsolete? We collected a few pieces of music inspired by urgent, topical matters that define our times.

Here are ten unusual instruments you might not be too familiar with.

No 20th-century composer adapted his style as much as Igor Stravinsky. From his early ballets for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to his neoclassical phase and serialism, Stravinsky’s music underwent many transformations.