On 12 March 2020, pianist Igor Levit tweeted the following: Empty concert halls. The idea of listening to and experiencing music together is gone – for now. It’s necessary, yet so sad. But it’s ok. Still: I’d like to continue

Review on Rossini Opera Festival 2022 – La Gazzetta and Otello The 43rd edition of the Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) in Pesaro, Rossini’s birthplace, featured a selection of rare Rossini operas and recitals. The nearly two week-long event again drew

“I find Roberts’ argument most persuasive” In the introduction to his new book, pianist Paul Roberts recounts a conversation with “an elderly and much celebrated piano teacher” when he was just starting out as the inspiration for a lifetime’s fascination

Bad Wildbad is one of the least probable stations on the European summer festival circuit. Small, relatively nondescript and poorly accessible, the spa town in the Black Forest once welcomed Gioachino Rossini when he was seeking cures for his many

The title of pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recently published memoir, will be familiar to anyone who had piano lessons as a child. It’s a mnemonic of the notes e, g, b, d and f which sit on the lines of the

Music lovers often wonder how a 19th century audience would experience an opera during its absolute first performance, without the benefit of extensive written plot summaries, YouTube videos and CDs to prepare for the music, or Wikipedia guides to pinpoint

For the music obsessed, no visit to la Serenissima would be complete without an evening at the opera. Venice’s legendary Teatro La Fenice opera house, reopened in 2004 after the catastrophic fire of 1996, was resplendent with its riotously colourful

British director John Bridcut has made a striking new film of Winterreise, Schubert’s great song cycle, with baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist James Baillieu. It’s all the more remarkable because it was made during the first year of the pandemic,