Macbeth, Op. 23 (1886-8) Richard Strauss’ first tone-poem, is not heard much. Norman del Mar devoted much space to it in his fine Strauss books, though, and that piqued my interest many, many years ago […]
Lullaby (noun) – A song sung to children to soothe them to rest. Also, any song which soothes to rest. (Oxford English Dictionary online) Inevitably the idea of a lullaby is immediately associated with children but […]
Happy “birth”- day to Wigmore Hall (inasmuch as bricks and mortar are birthed). On the hall’s actual 125th anniversary, it was Lise Davidsen and the equally astonishing collaborative pianist James Baillieu who did the honours: […]
Teodor Doré: Flow Interrupted It’s not often that I write about the London Festival of Architecture, but on 5 June 2026 Renaissance-21 is presenting Flow Interrupted, a prepared piano performance by Teodor Doré at Roca […]
Alessandro Taverna & Francesca Dego Korngold: Violin Sonata, Schoenberg: Phantasy, Richard Strauss: Violin Sonata; Francesca Dego, Alessandro Taverna; Conway HallReviewed 31 May 206 Youthful Korngold and Strauss before he was Strauss in a remarkable pair of big late-romantic […]
“God it’s just so boring.” That’s the extent of my listening notes for this new album from John Wilson and company. So do I even need to go on? (I suppose I could elaborate a bit. […]
Creative Minds in Song (2023) In this guest posting pianist Gavin Roberts, artistic director of Song in the City, introduces Creative Minds in Song. On Friday 5 June, audiences at St Giles Cripplegate will hear the […]
Igor Levit & the Leonkoro Quartet in Heidelberg in 2024 (Photo: Studio Visuell) Henriëtte Bosmans: String Quartet, Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet; Igor Levit, Leonkoro Quartet; Wigmore HallReviewed 31 May 2026 A completely absorbing performance of the Schumann […]
The BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical-music festival, salutes the USA in this year’s edition marking 250 years since the signing of the US Declaration of Independence. A feast of music like no other, the […]
Mozart: Cosi fan tutte – Osian Wyn Bowen, Madeline Boreham, Paul Grant – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Craig Fuller) Mozart: Cosi fan tutte: Madeline Boreham, Shakira Tsindos, Osian Wyn Bowen, Paul Grant, Elizabeth Karani, Paul Carey […]
