Puccini in Paris
Three colours, three moods, three registers. And yet Puccini conceived this triptych as a whole from the outset. He interweaves these three one-act operas, from Il tabarro, a drama of passion set on the quays of […]
classical music
Ruth Leon recommends… Rembrandt’s Night Watch 1642
The Night Watch Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn would have celebrated his 419th birthday this week which is my excuse for writing about him. Rembrandt (he ditched the ‘Harmenszoon’ early and became known as, simply, Rembrandt) was […]
Ian Bostridge and Saskia Giorgini in Schubert
This is the latest of Classical Explorer‘s Miller’s daughters: Andrè Schun was a single release; Christoph Prégardien’s (part of a set of the great cycles); there is even a “pub edition” on Rubicon!. Ian Bostridge […]
What worries musicologists
A field that has long abandoned its core studies is now fretting over holding smaller conferences and decolonising itself. Read this: On Behalf Of Parncutt, Richard (richard.parncutt@uni-graz.at) Sent: 09 July 2025 11:02 To: MUSICOLOGY-ALL@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: […]
Doublebassists mourn leading personality
The International Society of Bassists has issued a notice of mourning for Gary Karr, who died yesterday of a brain aneurysm, having just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Gary was 83. Born Gary Michael Kornbleit […]
Anita, 100
The formidable cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Auschwitz survivor and longterm moral conscience of London’s orchestras, turned 100 today. Instead of a telegram from the King, she received a personal visit. The post Anita, 100 appeared […]
Ruth Leon recommends…Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill – Audra Macdonald
Click here to subscribe or purchase The best of the tributes to Billie Holiday is this full length play with songs, written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Lonny Price, it stars 6-time Tony winner […]
Ruth Leon recommends… Billie Holliday – Strange Fruit
Billie Holliday Most people know that jazz great Billie Holiday died penniless and riddled with drugs and alcohol on 17th July 1959 of cirrhosis of the liver. They know less about her life which […]
Cheltenham Music Festival celebrates its 80th birthday & doubles its audience year-on-year
Mozart’s Requiem: David Crown conducts Cheltenham Bach Choir and the Musical & Amicable Society at Cheltenham Town Hall This year the Cheltenham Music Festival celebrated its 80th birthday [see my review of the closing concert]. The […]
Charpentier, Missa Assumpta est Maria (& La Fête du Reuil)
We have covered a number of concerts and releases of music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) on Classical Explorer: one overlap is that this concert of the Leçons de Ténèbres at Wigmore Hall began with the […]
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