classical music & opera
-
Woyzeck in Winter – triumphant union of Büchner and SchubertThe anguish and torment of Büchner’s tragedy and Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise combine to brilliant effect in a pioneering piece of music-theatre -
Occhi Turchini: Songs from Calabria – fascinating musical amalgam, bristling with energyA stylish sequence of vocal pieces and instrumentals, encompassing traditional songs to opera, done with a light touch and some superb singing
-
Zazà – Leoncavallo's tale of deceit saddens, startles and stirsAnne Sophie Duprels gives a central performance of astonishing rawness in Marie Lambert’s smartly stripped-back staging of a bittersweet love story -
Original Gustav Holst scores discovered in New Zealand libraryExperts believe one of the works, Folk Songs from Somerset, has not been played or heard in more than a century
-
Staatskapelle Berlin/Barenboim – magnificent UK Birtwistle premiereDaniel Barenboim led the peerless German orchestra through two Proms concerts, including a spectacular performance of Harrison Birtwistle’s new work Deep Time
-
Strauss: The Complete Songs 8 CD review – three great performersNicky Spence (tenor), Rebecca Evans (soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano)
(Hyperion) -
Peter Fribbins: Dances, Elegies and Epitaphs CD review – clear, sinuous melodyPhilippe Graffin (violin), Christopher Hart (trumpet), RSNO/Šervenikas
(Resonus)
-
Every child should have the opportunity to learn to read music and play an instrument, not just the kids of thrusting middle-class parentsWhy not put music at the heart of education?
-
Don't apologise for classical music's complexity – that's its strengthNaysayers argue classical music is being chased to extinction by technology. But young audiences in search of authentic experiences are embracing it more than ever before, says Alan Davey, controller of Radio 3
-
you may have missed
-
Singing? I'm still trying to get the hang of itSinging was never his first choice, but three decades into an internationally acclaimed career, British bass Brindley Sherratt puts pen to paper to risk a few words of advice for a younger generation
-
To be or not to be: the question is, where are the operatic Hamlets?Brett Dean’s Hamlet premieres at Glyndebourne this week. Will he succeed where hundreds of other composers have failed and give Shakespeare’s masterpiece the opera it deserves?
-
Clare Norburn: 'Writing about Beethoven helped me come to terms with my own hearing loss'Musician Clare Norburn had been reluctant to admit to her hearing problems, but a decision to write about Beethoven helped her embrace the present rather than worry about the future
-
John Wilson: 'Music is either worth doing or it's not'The British conductor brings the same skill to Turnage as he does to the Trolley Song. At the Proms this year with two different orchestras he promises to breathe fresh life into whatever he takes on
guides
-
Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed musical historyTom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
-
Stephen Moss's guide to the music of Europe's great cities: BerlinOur series ends in Berlin, the classical music lover’s dream destination, with Berg, Busoni, Bowie and Bernstein.
-
A guide to contemporary classical musicTom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
Review BBCSO/Weilerstein – simpatico siblings power expressive Prom