classical music

A hostile reception was expected for Lotte de Beer’s new Carmen at the Volksoper, where the audience is treated to a frumpish heroine dressed head-to-toe in black and having little by way of the familiar […]

The longest-lasting, best-known marriage in the Italian performing arts was between the ballerina Carla Fracci and the stage director Beppe Menegatti. They met in 1954 at La Scala, where he was Luchino Visconti’s assistant, and […]

The winner at the piano section of the 2024 George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest last night was Roman Lopatynskyi from Kyiv. The runners-up were both Russian: Tatiana Dorokhova and Evgeny Konnov. When the war […]

In a staggering admission of senior ineptitude, English National Orchestra has hired a headhunter to find its next music director. Choosing a chief conductor usually arises from discussions between the artistic director, the board and […]

Don Hazelwood joined the Orchestra in 1952 and was Concertmaster from 1965–1998. His wife Anne Menzies was Second Clarinet from 1968–1992. Their daughter Jane has played in the viola section since 1995. Jane’s youngest son […]

Eleanor Powell, Thousands Cheer, Boogie Woogie Last week I introduced many of you to the great movie tap dancer Eleanor Powell in her classic duet with Fred Astaire from Broadway Melody of 1940. So many of you have […]

And how we miss him. The post Leonard Cohen would have been 90 today appeared first on Slippedisc.

Having rigged the finals to contrive a fairer gender balance, the Leeds Piano Competition was won tonight by a 24 year-old Canadian male. Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, 24, triumphed with a performance of Brahms’s second piano concerto. […]