English composer George Benjamin (b. 1960) started working with British playwright Martin Crimp (b.1956) in 2006, resulting in four operas: Into the Little Hill (2006), Written on Skin (2012), Lessons in Love and Violence (2018), and Picture a Day Like

In his new 2-CD recording for Deutsche Grammophon, pianist Grigory Sokolov (b. 1950) gives a very thoughtful recording of two musical giants who rarely appear on the same program together: Henry Purcell and Mozart. Better known in Europe than in

The music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) has come in and out of favour over the decades – listeners love his ability to tell stories in music. Then they tire of what seems to be the superficial aspects of his

The Epic of Gilgamesh comes from the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia. The story has come down to us in a set of tablets written in cuneiform from ca 2100–1200 BC. There are two major versions: the Old Babylonian, of which

Written for the Leeds Festival and given its premiere on 6 October 1898, the Te Deum by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) brought opera to the English choral tradition. Written to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accession to the throne

American pianist Bruce Leto, Jr., took inspiration from his teacher at Haverford College, Curtis Cacioppo in creating his first album, Mood Poems. In working with Cacioppo, Leto says he was able to not only improve his musicality but also how

Mamoru Fujisawa (b. 1950), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi, is best known for his film work, having composed the scores for most of the animations created by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, including Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), My

The song cycle Winterreise starts in the worst possible way, with our disappointed lover hanging around town heartbroken after he’s been given his congé. Dismissed, he wanders around the village, saying farewell to the beloved places that had been so