classical music & opera
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You may have heard the St John Passion – but how often have you actually listened to it? Tenor Mark Padmore explains how TS Eliot and the John Gospel are bringing its sacred meaning back to life
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Sir Antonio Pappano says while latest trend of booing villains can be fun, calling out a bad performance is a step too far
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It’s taken almost 300 years for the French composer’s genre-crossing opéra-ballet to come to the UK, with a Royal College of Music staging opening tomorrow. Why the wait?
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Pieces by John Adams and Esa-Pekka Salonen should have been gripping, but the relentlessly robust NY Phil left little room for subtlety
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The theft of Min Kym’s Stradivarius made worldwide headlines – but her autobiography shows that wasn’t all she’d lost in life
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More than 50 years on, Thomas’s Adès’s latest opera is a chilling response to the classic film about a dinner party from which the guests have no escape
facing the music
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The French soprano on the music she loves - from Puccini to Saint-Saëns and Messiaen to Woodkid
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Dowland, Dove, and Dolly – the countertenor shares his musical loves
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weekly from the archive
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9 March 1971: Meirion Bowen on the scholar, virtuosic musician and crumhorn whizzkid at the forefront of the period-instrument movement, who died tragically young 40 years ago
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From the archive, 23 April 1827: Following the death of Beethoven, the Observer publishes a personal account of the eccentric and prodigiously talented composer
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From the archive, 11 August 1876: The Guardian reports from the very first Bayreuth Wagner festival, presided over by the composer himself.
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Comment We need more women composers – and it's not about tokenism, it's about talent
Susanna EastburnWhy are female composers not taken as seriously as their male counterparts? Sound and Music, the national development organisation for new music, are determined to do something about it -
Arnold Schoenberg Do not approach with caution
Pina NapolitanoSchoenberg’s music is too often considered intimidating and inaccessible. On the contrary, argues pianist Pina Napolitano, who finds in it beauty and passion. All you need is an open mind. -
you may have missed
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Lost for 150 years – and mistaken for her brother’s after that – some of Fanny Mendelssohn’s bold, complex music is belatedly receiving the attention it merits. Her great-great-great granddaughter tells the story
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Embraced by the Nazis, Wagner’s operatic masterpiece has long been shrouded in controversy. Its debate about cultural unity is now more relevant than ever
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He is renowned for writing politically controversial operas, so what will Adams make of the new US president? On his 70th-birthday tour, the composer talks beatniks, bombs and Trumping Nixon
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Opera North’s new approach to Wagner was praised for its dramatic power, musical integrity and accessibility. You can watch the first act of Die Walküre here
guides
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Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
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Our series ends in Berlin, the classical music lover’s dream destination, with Berg, Busoni, Bowie and Bernstein.
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Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
most viewed
Fiona Maddocks meets Yuja Wang 'If the music is beautiful and sensual, why not dress to fit?'