New online: Martha plays Mendelssohn

How far may a person go to free themselves from dire circumstances? Here, a woman becomes a vile murderer, and yet the 26-year-old composer Shostakovich sympathises with her.  Of his own radically complex leading character, […]

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France has appointed a new principal second violin. She is Savitri Grier, former associate concertmaster of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, and an international soloist. A Londoner of […]

The fabulous Portuguese singer Misia died in Lison of cancer last week. She was 69. Portugal’s Culture Minister Dalila Rodrigues called her ‘a fundamental voice in the renewal of fado’. This is what we’ll miss. […]