Berlioz’s Christmas hit
The composer was not religious but saw his L’enfance du Christ as a deeply human story – and audiences deemed…
ByClassical music
Mendelssohn’s pinnacle of music-making
The beauty of the composer’s piano trios is renewed in the hands of three virtuosos.
By
Longing for Labour, once again
Also this week: meditations on love and loss, and the bliss of the Berlin Philarmonic.
By
The Tallis Scholars at Saffron Hall: sublime and moving
“Mysteries and Miracles” explores several centuries of sacred music.
By
The friendship that made Shostakovich
The Gates of Kyiv explores the friendship between the composer and the pianist Maria Yudina – and the horrors of…
By
Gustav Holst beyond The Planets
The composer, born 150 years ago this month, should be better known for his many other great works.
By
Florence + the Machine at the Proms: a thrilling two hours of pure emotion
This imaginative orchestral reworking of her debut album Lungs was part film score, part pop song, and totally euphoric.
By
Listening to Debussy at thrash metal volume
One shouldn’t use a fork to scoop ear wax out, but I was getting frantic.
By
Beethoven and the Romantic spirit
The composer’s Third Cello Sonata, an underrated masterwork, cuts up the musical form and reassembles it anew.
By
Discovering the real Modest Mussorgsky
Sweetened arrangements of his works ensured the Russian composer’s afterlife – but left him hiding in plain sight.
By
The drama of Carlo Gesualdo
The vocal ensemble the Gesualdo Six on the Renaissance composer’s arresting and daring works.
By
How apartheid shaped classical music
Four composers reveal the musical legacies of the regime – in South Africa and beyond.
By
Schumann and the arrival of spring
How the composer moved from riotously original piano music to the light-footed symphony that made his name.
By
Natalia Ponomarchuk: “War has its sounds. I recognise them wherever they appear”
The Ukrainian conductor on fleeing Kyiv, Mendelssohn and why “war shows the true faces of people”.
By
Sibelius’s symphony without sequel
The composer lived for 33 years after his Symphony No 7 premiered a century ago. But he could never follow…
By
John Tavener’s sacred music for a secular world
The English composer’s accidental masterpiece The Protecting Veil communicates a deep human longing for the eternal.
By
Opera singer David Butt Philip on how Brexit is impacting British musicians
Could the world-beating tenor be one of the UK’s last great singers to build a career in Europe?
By
The Rhapsody in Blue revolution
First performed 100 years ago, George Gershwin’s great experiment defined the jazz age and took popular music in a new…
By
Revolution in the Wirral
Also this week: world-class music in schools, and making space for culture.
By
Music in a time of war
The Ukrainian pianist Sasha Grynyuk and the Russian violinist Yuri Zhislin on playing together during the conflict.
By- 1
- 2