John Mayall, RIP
The widely acclaimed ‘father of British blues’ has died aged 90 in California, where he moved in the 1970s. His Bluesbreakers group is remembered chiefly for the couple of years in the mid-1960s when Eric […]
Slipped Disc
Ruth Leon recommends… Murder in the Dark – Original Theatre
Murder in the Dark – Original Theatre Click here for tickets What happens when the lights go out? It’s New Year’s Eve, when a car crash on a deserted road brings famous but troubled singer Danny […]
Remember flashmobs? This was the best
Ten years ago, the musicians and people of Nuremburg capture the spirit of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Forty million people watched the video. It was an innocent, trusting time. The post Remember flashmobs? […]
Half a quartet gets wed
Francesca Fiore, cellist of the Archos Quartet, has married its first violinist Filip Jeska. We wish them great happiness. The quartet was founded in 2009 by four students at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. The post Half […]
The nightmare moment of a mighty pianist
The Portuguese pianist Maria Joao Pires, 80 today, became a global legend when, at a lunchtime concert in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in 1998, she heard the orchestra start up a different Mozart concerto from the one […]
Who’s conducting the Olympics?
The Romanian Cristian Măcelaru will conduct the Orchestre National de France at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday. ‘I never believed in my life that I would have this opportunity. It’s […]
Summer’s a time for wearing silly hats
The University of Exeter has awarded a degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) to Dougie Scarfe (centre), chief executive of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The award is for his ‘commitment to breaking down barriers […]
Just in: Mother of 3 wins conducting competition
The Spanish conductor Noemí Pasquina has been pronounced winner of the Bucharest International Conducting Competition, directed by John Axelrod. Pasquina, a grduate of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, is married with three small children. […]
Katharina Wagner to direct in Beijing
Journalist Sebastian Hammelehle gets some strong news breaks out of an interview with the Bayreuth chief in Der Spiegel. Katharina Wagner says Christian Thielemann will return in 2027 to conduct Parsifal, having resigned as music […]
Bayreuth loses its Brangäne
The Russian mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova has missed too many rehearsals with illness to take part in Tristan und Isolde, the festival has announced. She will be replaced as Brangäne by Christa Mayer. It is still […]
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