A world record is being claimed by pianist Ruslan Ishdavletov from St. Petersburg, who improvised continuously for 60 hours without eating, drinking or sleeping. Ruslan sat down at the piano at midnight on May 27 […]
Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, has been dismissed by tweet. Ttump said: ‘Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am herby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of […]
From my monthly essay in The Critic: A rustling in the record schedules warns me that 2026 will be the Year of Havergal Brian. Never heard of him? Don’t panic. He’s an English composer of 32 symphonies […]
Aziz Shokhakimov’s continuing success with the Strasbourg orchestra is exemplified in this recording. Good timing, too, given the Ravel celebrations this year. Recently, we covered a live performance in Strasbourg of Stravinsky’s Rite could with […]
I have really enjoyed Domingo Hindoyan‘s recordings of less familiar, less over-recorded repertoire. His discs of French ballet music, “Venezuela!”, and the music of Roberto Sierra were really terrific. But then Onyx released his Bruckner 4, and now […]
From our agony aunt: Dear Alma, I have a nosy viola professor! She’s always bringing up dramas and problems she has with university students and co-workers within the music school. It’s getting to the point […]
From the Lebrecht Album of the Week: The second symphony by this unsung French composer has been included in this summer’s BBC Proms and I wanted to get familiar with it before deciding whether to […]
The death has been made known of Susann McDonald, co-founder and artistic director of the World Harp Congress. Susann was three days past her 90th birthday. A student of Lily Laskine in Paris, she followed […]
The Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, chief of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for the past four years, has been named music director of LA Opera from July 2026. Hindoyan, 45, is married to the star […]
.jpg?w=510&resize=510,510&ssl=1 "A terrific sense of collaboration: composer Colin Matthews and writer William Boyd on their first opera, A Visit to Friends")
William Boyd and Colin Mathews (Photo: Mark Allan) During his long career the composer Colin Matthews has been associated with several other composers, he assisted both Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst at the Aldeburgh Festival, […]
