Earlier this season, John Wilson confirmed his orchestra’s special status with an extravagant realisation of Respighi’s Roman trilogy. Here, in the last of the year’s Sunday morning entertainments, a much-reduced
The ‘novelty’—to use Henry Wood’s historic term for unfamiliar fare—came first. The music of Louise Farrenc (née Jeanne-Louise Dumont; 1804–1875) was entirely absent from these concerts until 2024 when her
It is not just at the Proms that Vaughan Williams’s star is in the ascendant, whether or not you trace the phenomenon to the special impact of Andrew Manze’s landmark
It’s a fairly unusual concert when a major work by Beethoven is by far the less maverick and more lyrical item, yet that was the case here with the Violin
Billed as a 90th-birthday celebration for Steve Reich, this Late Night Prom seemed in certain respects a missed opportunity. If the headline performance of Reich’s masterly Tehillim was the main event, the
Urban myth or not, it has been alleged that the BBC once turned down a proffered Proms visitation from the Bavarian State Orchestra under Kirill Petrenko, possibly on the grounds
As Bamberg Symphony Orchestra chief, Antonio Pappano’s successor at Covent Garden, and music director designate of the Czech Philharmonic, Jakub Hrůša cannot have much time for guest conducting these days.
Goethe’s Faust appealed to the 19th century psyche with its themes of the search for immortality, the nature of humankind, ageing, good, evil, love, damnation and redemption. The best-known vocal setting
It was this performance that stood out most of all when the EIF brochure was issued last autumn. Richard Strauss’s second opera based on Sophocles
This year’s offering by Bampton Classical Opera – Grétry’s Zemira e Azor – could almost be an allegory for the present situation in Iran, albeit
The annual Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert. Marin Alsop conducted the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, comprised of TMC Fellows who have been selected to participate in
Martha Graham Dance Company joined Anna Handler and the Boston Symphony to perform ‘Appalachian Spring’, Graham’s most famous ballet, set to Aaron Copland’s Pulitzer Prize-winning score; and
Presented alongside another early farsa in this year’s Rossini Opera Festival, this La scala di seta (1812) contrasts sharply with the traditional setting and direction of the exactly contemporary L’occasione
The opportunity spoken of in the title of Rossini’s early one Act comedy for Venice (1812) comes about when two suitcases are accidentally swapped. Despite
Unlike today, back in the 1960s the world was awash with great conductors. Several of
Olli Mustonen is perhaps best known as a pianist, but he also has a considerable
Mitsuko Uchida isn’t much associated with Beethoven, but she recorded these Sonatas for Philips in
As is well known, after Aida, Giuseppe Verdi contented himself with composing his glorious Requiem
The programme notes aptly describe this album as ‘A musical portrait of Jean Cocteau and
Edward Picton-Turbervill (b.1993) is very much a torch bearer of the English choral tradition stretching
We’ve all been there. You pick up your guitar or sit down at the piano, ready for a great practice session. Ten minutes later, you’re
Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, the 15th Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) brought together nine quartets, seven
The Romsey Chamber Music Festival goes from strength to strength, and this year’s events explored music belonging to endings, transformation and the force of the
I spent ten days at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home, which brings performers, teachers, and students together, enabling music lovers to experience a
Held annually since 2018, the Romsey Chamber Music Festival is one of Hampshire’s best-kept musical secrets. This year’s six-day festival, comprising ten events, featured repertoire given by an
We are all influenced by our first exposures to greatness. Whether it is a person, structure or work of art, those initial contacts inform us
