An optimistic call to arms, Grażyna Bacewicz’s 1943 Overture – her first orchestral work in an output including four symphonies and seven violin concertos – is a taut 2/4 construction,
With no overture to open the evening, we began straight away with an eloquent reading of an evergreen. Kian Soltani has already recorded this greatest of all cello concertos for
English National Ballet’s latest mixed bill is a somewhat ho-hum affair, a two-hour triptych comprising an undisputed masterpiece by a master choreographer and two commissions which, to put it kindly,
A full house greeted this season-opening concert with palpable enthusiasm and, wonder of wonders, a decent hiatus of quiet contemplation before the closing applause. Never mind that Britten’s War Requiem
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 and his first collaboration with
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 that in this version of
The world of opera has produced some bizarre, well-nigh incomprehensible plots, but few rival Mr
Andre Cluytens recorded Faust in 1953 and 1958; the latter in stereo. Both shared the
The great French conductor Pierre Monteux (1875-1964) was something of a wanderer. After starting out
The third collection of English String Music from this source is as outstanding as its
Like many other modern composers Josemari Hernandez composes accessible, largely tonal, as opposed to confrontational,
Unlike today, back in the 1960s the world was awash with great conductors. Several of
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
