Long before Paris became the world’s music centre, it was Vienna. From Haydn through the Strauss family, there was always a place for music in Vienna. The State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic and many other orchestras, and the opportunities for

The life of Bach’s music through the ages always comes back to the master. In this new recording by Armenian pianist Hayk Melikyan, he takes the Bach we know and uses transcriptions by Wilhelm Kempff, Alexander Siloti, Ferruccio Busoni, Johannes

Pianist Michel Dalberto’s latest album, Virtus, poses the question of the meaning of the word ‘virtuosity’. The word seems to have changed its meaning between the end of classicism and the height of romanticism. In the 1860s and 1870s, the

British composer Arnold Bax (1883–1953) started his musical life as a student at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating in 1905. Although an accomplished pianist, he did not pursue a performing career, helped by his personal income. He was captured

In his new recording of the 12-part piano cycle, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), The Seasons, pianist Yunchan Lim sees it as a look back on a life. The Seasons was commissioned by Nikolay Bernard, the editor of the St

In her new album Abracadabra, pianist Beatrice Berrut explores the worlds of sorcerers and dances of death, traditional fairy tales and fairy tales for the modern world. In her survey of the worlds of Dukas and Stravinsky, film music composers

In his exuberant post-WWII work, the Turangalîla Symphony, French composer Olivier Messiaen took the commission proposed by Serge Koussevitsky to heart: ‘compose the work as you like, in any style and length, with the instrumentation you would like, and I

Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello, BWV 1007–1012, have become the touchstone for the modern cellist. When first approached, they are the Mount Everest of cello works: difficult to conquer and stay on top of. Once conquered, however, they aren’t