Giants of the financial world and famed for more than two centuries as patrons of the arts (Mendelssohn and Chopin were among their many beneficiaries), the Rothschilds also nurtured an acclaimed musical talent of their own: soprano Charlotte de Rothschild.
A seventh-generation member of the family, de Rothschild, 46, is not only a professional classical singer, but one with a great love of Japanese songs. In performances earlier this month with pianist Masahiro Saito in Tokyo and Osaka, half of the 24 numbers she sang were do-yo (children's songs and nursery rhymes), including pieces by lyricist/poet Hakusyu Kitahara and composer Kosaku Yamada.
In fact, de Rothschild was the first non-Japanese to record an album of do-yo in the Japanese language. That album, "A Japanese Journey -- Nihon no Tabiji," was released in 1999.