Bello tiempo passato
“Fine old days”: Boerio (probably)’s 1673 comic intermezzo We are in the world of the commedia dell’arte here. In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures […]
Classical Explorer
Sir Stephen Hough to lead the Leeds Piano Competition
The Leeds International Piano Competition launches a bold new chapter with the appointment of one of the world’s most esteemed artists, British pianist Sir Stephen Hough, as Artistic Director and Chair of the Jury for 2027 […]
Les Regrets, ou L’art de la Mélancolie: music by François Couperin
Music by François Couperin today, a perfect complement to a previous post on the harpsichord music of Louis Couperin at Wigmore Hall by Jean Rondeau (linked in to his monumental box of Louis’ keyboard works […]
John Wilson & Sinfonia of London: Ravel, Berkeley, Pounds
You think you know Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin? Wait until you hear this! John Wilson and Sinfonia of London illuminate every bar of the score afresh. In a score I’ve heard a kazillion times, […]
The Mahler Competition 2026: no first prize awarded
Jury honours the finalists with one Second Prize and two Third Prizes, reaffirming the exceptionally high artistic standards of the international conducting competition Press Release: July 2026 ● The jury of The Mahler Competition 2026 […]
Vaporised Tivoli: The Music of Anders Hillborg
Designated (in small caps) as “Orchestral and Concertante Works I,” this is a brilliant introduction to the music of “Sweden’s most performed living composer”. Hillborg studied in Stockholm with, among others, Per Lindgren before falling […]
Pappano’s mixed “Tristan” at Barbican
This is surely Sir Antonio Pappano’s “Wagner period”: his recent Siegfried, the latest instrument of an ongoing Ring at RBO revealed, to my ears at least, his finest Wanger to date. He has, of course, […]
Haitink’s Bavarian Bruckner 7
This is not he first specifically Haitink Bruckner 7 on Classical Explorer: we did a short post on a DVD of a Vienna performance here. There is something about the gorgeous warmth of found of […]
Patterns in Repeat: Manchester Collective at Southbank Centre
Meredith Monk Stringsongs: IV. “Phantom Strings” (2004) Clarice Assad Sonic Landscapes: I. “Continuum” (2002) Meredith Monk Backlight (2015) Cassie Kinoshi ARTEFACT/AUTOMATON (2026, World Premiere) Cassandra Miller Perfect Offering (2021) Manchester Collective; Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, […]
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo revisited: Jordi Savall at Paris’ Opera Comique
After Glyndebourne’s thought-provoking L’Orfeo, it struck me it was a good idea to cover Jordi Savall’s 2000 Barcelona performance, staged by Pauline Bayle, first of all because the staging is a masterpiece of Minimalism (sets […]
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