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Inspired by Shakespeare, Mendelssohn captures all the magic and frivolity in the music he wrote for the Bard's otherworldy play.

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Mitski about her new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We.

Rock journalist Bob Spitz's new biography of the Beatles is decidedly not prettified: venereal disease, drugs, and bad business are all part of the story of the Fab Four. The book is The Beatles: The Biography.

The allegations against Michael Jackson in the documentary Leaving Neverland make listening to his songs a struggle, one that resists the comfort those songs once provided.

Through the process of translating his book about Japan's robust independent music scene into the country's native language, an author finds himself reckoning with where he's really at.

In the past eight months, a video of a young guitarist playing a modern version of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major has become a sensation on the Internet. The video has been viewed on YouTube.com more than 7.6 million times -- but nobody knew the identity of the guitarist. Recently, that changed.

Ahmir Thompson, aka Questlove, is the drummer for the Grammy-winning hip-hop group The Roots. The sextet melds musical styles: rock 'n' roll, jazz fusion, funk, poetry, shout-outs to hip-hop pioneers, black nationalism and groove-laden neo-soul musings. (This interview originally aired Feb. 6, 2003.)

At 28, Russian pianist Konstantin Lifschitz is celebrated for his exquisite musical sensibility and nuanced playing. He performs Chopin's Waltz No. 1 and Liszt's Paganini Etude No.6 in NPR's Studio 4.

Allen Toussaint, evacuated from New Orleans after the floods hit, is a songwriter best known for the hit "Working in the Coal Mine." He wrote songs for The Meters, Dr. John, Patti LaBelle and many others, and was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. (This interview was first broadcast on Jan. 6, 1988.)

Billy Joel doesn't perform on his latest CD, a collection of classical pieces he composed. The 'piano man' explains why — and reveals what he's learned about his craft (6:58-7:45) Billy Joel: Fantasies & Delusions, Op. 1-10. Sony/Columbia.