The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra has a terrible reputation for mistreating foreign players and conductors. After sacking most of its western players, the orchestra was placed under an international boycott – which has not deterred hungry […]
We reported earlier that Franz Welser-Möst had withdrawn from Cleveland’s cycle of Beethoven piano concertos because he is still recovering from the effects of successful cancer treatment. It has just been confirmed that his chosen […]
This morning, BBC Radio 3 Unwind launched on BBC Sounds. Billed as a new 24/7 stream showcasing a broad and eclectic range of calming classical music, at first you wonder whether it might be entirely […]
The inimitable Quincy Jones died yesterday, aged 91. A kid off Chicago’s rough South Side, sharing drug fixes with Ray Charles, he won a scholarship to Berklee and wound up studying in Paris with Nadia […]
Established in 2017 by Dr Angela Elizabeth Slater, Illuminate Women’s Music is a touring concert series aim to shine light on the work and creativity of women composers and performers. During December 2024, January and February 2025, […]
The Cleveland music director, who has received successful cancer treatment over 15 months, is apparently not quite ready to return for this month’s limelight cycle of Beethoven piano concertos with Igor Levit. The orchestra has […]
Last week, the New York Times had a sensational exclusive of a major discovery at the Pierpont Morgan Library. It was an unsuspected last waltz by Frederic Chopin and the joy was so spontaneous that […]
The lucrative, secretive business of buying and selling pedigree violins usually keeps its internal disputes well under wraps. Musicians and investors might lose confidence in dealers who slag each other off. But that’s just what’s […]
The Parisian music critic Alain Lompech (pictured) has a reputation for not respecting reputations. This week, he set his sights on the vastly popular Paris-based pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. Khatia was playing Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto […]
From my latest monthly essay in The Critic magazine. a survey of the many sons of conductors who dream of inheriting the berth: … There is half a football team of son-ofs who are presently […]
