From my introduction to tomorrow’s Lebrecht Interview on BBC Radio 3, directly after the Proms: Mahan Esfahani is a breaker of moulds. An Iranian who never went to music school, he flew in the face […]
Tama Matheson as Beethoven in his play, Beethoven: I Shall Hear In Heaven Tama Matheson: Beethoven: I Shall Hear In Heaven; Tama Matheson, Jayson Gillham, Quartet Concrète, English Chamber Choir; Opera Holland ParkReviewed 6 August […]
In Toronto last night, during the National Youth Orchestra of Canada’s concert, violinist Justin Saulnier had his E peg pop in the middle of Prokofiev’s second concerto. Not missing a beat, he swapped instruments with […]
Joel Ivany has stepped down after 12 years as artistic director of opera at the Banff Centre. If you enjoy mountains and remoteness, this could be one for you. More here. pictured: Handmaid’s Tale at […]
The United States has doubled the price it is offering for the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, president of the state of Venezuela and controller of the el Sistema music propaganda unit. Maduro funds el Sistema […]
Oliver Mears, director of the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, has emailed an explanation to staff as to why he attemped to remove a Palestine flag from one of the extras during curtain-calls for Il […]
Handel was in Rome in 1708 when he received a commission for a large sacred oratorio for Easter from Marquis Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, his patron at the time. La resurrezione was performed for the first time […]
Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord 2025 (2): La Roche Baroque (1): Handel and his Contemporaries La Risonanza. 12 noon, Église Saint Théodore de la Rochebeaucourt, Périgord, France, 01.08.2025 Michel Correte Organ Concerto in F, Op. 25/6. Handel […]
It’s interesting to see a resurgence in Tchaikovsky’s relatively neglected Orchestral Suites in a smattering of recent new recordings. Newcomer Stanislav Kochanovsky recorded the Third with the NDR Radio Philharmonic for his debut on harmonia mundi, […]
In a lecture at the Voice Foundation, the diva pulled no punches. Here’s a sample: Given the climate right now for opera and classical music performance—which is what I know—I think there are far too […]
