The immediate closure has been announced at three French magazines, Avant-Scène Opéra, Classica and Pianist, all on economic grounds. Avant-Scène Opéra, in its 50th year, was unique in devoting each bimonthly issue to a single […]
Croydon Council has overspent this year by £35 million and is seeking a government bailout. It has been told to sell assets. Top of the list is Fairfield Hall, a world-class venue for orchestral concerts. […]
The English conductor came from a family of academics. When she graduated from Oxford and said she was going to make a career as a conductor, both parents were horrified. She describes their reaction to […]
The Russian violinist Rosa Fain, a pupil and later stage partner of David Oistrakh, has died in Dusseldorf, where she was Professor at the School of Music for many years. Like her teacher, she was […]
The Berlin Staatsoper has commissioned a bust for its resplendent foyer of an Austrian conductor who made his career behind the Iron Curtain. Otmar Siutner, from Innsbruck, took up a popst as principal conductor of […]
From my new monthly essay in The Critic magazine (out now): … I was not surprised to receive a 72-page book from the Ministère de la Culture, listing all the events the state has planned to […]
So What Click here to watch I’m not on TikTok but I was sent this priceless clip of Liz Minnelli performing So What,a song from the stage production of Cabaret that never made it into the […]
From our agony aunt: Dear Alma, A concertgoer waited to meet me after a concert several months ago. We went on several dates, and he is nice enough. It’s just not the perfect thing for […]
The death is reported, after a lengthy illness, of the Italian countertenor and conductor Roberto Balconi. A Milanese, he studied in England with Evelyn Tubb and worked with English Baroque Soloists, Il Giardino Armonico, Il […]
We are sorry to learn of the death of conductor and writer Christopher Fifield, author of fine biographies of the German composer Max Bruch and conductor Hans Richter. Christopher conducted the Lambeth Orchestra in South […]
