classical music

Francesco Meli is due to sing Verdi’s Otello at La Fenice. He expected the director to give him some make up to darken his features when portraying the great Moor. But the director Fabio Cerese […]

In a rare toe-dip into contemporary music, the Vienna Philharmonic will tonight play Bruno Hartl’s Ballad for Large Orchestra, ahead of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Hartl was a timpanist in the orchestra. He retired early in […]

Carlos Acosta Masterclass This one is only for real ballet freaks but for those of us who love the nuts and bolts of how great art is made, this is a treat. It’s a masterclass […]

The Malaysian pianist Magdalene Ho, who lives in London, has come top of the German contest. Ho, 21, last year won the Clara Haskil. She’s a student at the Royal College of Music. The post […]

Maria Mot’s boutique London-based management has signed the in-demand Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova. Formerly with Hilbert in Munich, Gubanova now shares an agent with Lise Davidsen, Ruxandra Donose and Gerald Finley. In other moves, Askonas […]

In a reshuffle following Dickon Stainer’s promotion to head of UK, Natasha Baldwin has been appointed President, Global Classics, Jazz & Screen. She will not have overview of Decca, DG and Verve, as well as […]

The Royal Opera has created a new post of associate director for Netia Jones. She will take charge of the indeterminate Linbury Theatre and share responsibility with Oliver Mears for commissioning new work in the […]

From the Times obituary of the sadly missed Laura Samuel: … During her first weeks studying violin at the Royal College of Music with Itzhak Rashkovsky she met the Romanian violinist Corina Belcea. Together they […]