July, 2018

57 Posts
archive-post-image
Returning to the studio
The late great Canadian pianist Glenn Gould made two significant and highly-acclaimed recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the first in 1955 when he was just 22, the second a quarter of a century later in 1981 when he was nearing
Read more
archive-post-image
Swanning around: Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House
The new Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House, a co-production with Opera Vlaanderen, is musically a very fine production. What it lacks, however, is a unifying concept. Neither direction (David Alden), stage set (Paul Steinberg) nor costumes (Gideon Davey) came
Read more
archive-post-image
Beautiful Song Beautifully Sung
An Interview with Kenneth E. Querns Langley
Three years ago, bel canto scholar and tenor Kenneth Querns Langley started working on the idea of a Bel Canto Festival and it came to fruition last year. This year will be the second Festival, built around the participation of
Read more
archive-post-image
SAINT-SAËNS, C.: Violin and Orchestra Works
La Muse et le Poète, Op. 132 From SAINT-SAËNS, C.: Violin and Orchestra Works (2017) Released by Naxos Saint-Saëns: La Muse et le Poète, Op. 132 Tianwa Yang is ‘an artist of exceptional technique and musicianship’ (BBC Music Magazine) and
Read more
archive-post-image
Music and Nature: Trees
When we’re young and in dance class, we’re told to imitate trees – swaying in the wind, bowing down in a torrent of rain or just standing tall in the cold winter sun. Composers are equally inspired; they see trees
Read more
archive-post-image
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in d-flat major, Op. 38
Premiered Today in 1937
Aram Khachaturian might easily be considered the poster child of Soviet realism in music. Joseph Stalin decreed that a composer in Soviet society had to be “an engineer of the human soul by writing music that communicates directly with the
Read more
archive-post-image
A Favourite Album:
«Résonance de l’Originaire»
Schubert works for piano duet and piano soloMaria João Pires & Ricardo CastroDeutsch Grammophon 2004 I was given this album by a friend for my 40th birthday in autumn 2006. I thought turning 40 would be easy: I told myself
Read more
archive-post-image
The Artist as a Human Being
Kilian Chan of Andante Musica looked at the music business and saw something that others had missed: young Asian musicians needed a niche. In addition, he was struck by the fact that for most of Asia, the foreign musician is
Read more