classical music & opera
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Claire Booth gives an unforgettably intense performance as the abandoned mistress in WNO’s stylish immersive Poulenc/Cocteau staging
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The English National Opera is ‘a trauma scene’ after a spare of resignations at the top, funding cuts and strike threats by performers. Into this lion’s den walks an American director with not much experience, but a whole lot of optimism
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The Turkish mezzo thrills as the heroine striving to avoid entrapment in a harem, while director Will Tuckett sprinkles movie glamour on Rossini’s farce
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Eric Richmond has been photographing the Orchestra of Enlightenment for 21 years. A retrospective of his distinctive work for the period orchestra is at the Royal Festival Hall, London, from 4-8 June. We present a few of our favourite shots, with Eric’s captions.
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The French-Canadian conductor succeeds James Levine, who retires after 40 years, to become only the third music director at the New York company
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Ensemble Correspondances/Daucé
(Harmonia Mundi)
facing the music
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From Joni Mitchell, Steve Reich, Svetlanov and Mackerras to John McEnroe and the Mr Men – the pianist on the people in his musical life, past and present
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From Queen to Quincy Jones and Stravinsky to Spamalot, the trumpeter on the music and musicians that inspire her on and off stage
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Comment 'You do not need to be educated to be touched, to be moved and excited by opera'
Graham VickGraham Vick was the keynote speaker at the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards. This is a transcript of his speech. -
Music of every genre, every culture and every period employs repeated phrases for effect. Why do we love to listen to the same things again and again?
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you may have missed
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The director’s take on Verdi’s tragic opera has costumes by Valentino and sets by Batman’s production designer … and still it is traditional and cliched
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Michael Güttler has taken over as conductor of Glyndebourne’s Meistersinger with only a few weeks’ notice. How has he approached a mammoth project that most musicians would expect months, if not years, to prepare for?
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David Bowie was a fan of the ‘world’s worst singer’, but is the epithet a fair one?
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Why do politicians love the Ring cycle? Perhaps because it’s about the intimate relationship between love and power.
guides
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Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
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Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
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Facing the music Jordi Savall