Delving into the unknown I talk to Nicolas Dautricourt the evening before a performance he’s giving in New York, playing chamber works by Schoenberg, Brahms, and Haydn. Concerts such as these are the staple diet of a touring musician, but

“Music begins where the possibilities of language end” For a number of high-profile music historians, Jean Sibelius (1864-1957)—instead of Gustav Mahler—is considered the last master in the Beethoven symphonic tradition. In his final symphony, so it is argued, Sibelius relentlessly

‘Take care of yourself because nobody is going to do it for you’ Recently returning from her Paris Opéra debut, singing La Folie in Rameau’s Platée, and finding a moment of respite before a run of Il viaggio a Reims

Compulsion to Compose Early twentieth-century modernists in music eagerly explored various ways of breaking with the Romantic tradition. For Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), born in a church tower above the Czech-Moravian Highlands, the initial point of departure was grounded in the

On Nature vs Nurture How do you manage to sustain a career as a harpsichordist and jazz pianist? For 23-year old Jean Rondeau it’s no problem. Equally at home on the concert stage in a chamber music recital of Rameau

‘If you want results, you have to be a fan’ Stepping in at the last minute is something that many musicians experience at some point or other in their lives. For our Artist of the Month, soprano Olga Kulchynska, this

An American Original Growing patriotic and nationalistic fervor had virtually inundated all aspects of European society by the middle of the nineteenth century. These political stirrings of national identify and pride not only found their way into all forms of

‘We need to get out of our comfort zones’ David Aaron Carpenter is a violist with a mission. As well as championing an instrument which unfortunately spends most of its time as the butt of the orchestra’s jokes, he is