The viola may be the less flashy sibling of the violin, but in the hands of these seven great women composers, the viola truly shines as a solo instrument. From the bold modernism of Marga Richter and Peggy Glanville-Hicks to
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The Music of Poetry
John Keats “Heard Melodies Are Sweet, but Those Unheard Are Sweeter” August 2nd, 2020The English Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) tragically died from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Creating a profound body of work under the cloud of near-constant illness, Keats captured extreme emotions through an emphasis on natural imagery. In the -
Atmosphere
When Horse Races and Concerts Are Held in a Void of Silence August 2nd, 2020Horse races run on empty courses, Premier League football matches played in cavernous deserted stadia, tennis tournaments played “behind closed doors”, concerts performed into a void of silence. Without the roar of the crowd, the cheering and the applause, the -
Live From London – A Choral Festival Borne Out of the Pandemic August 1st, 2020 Following the success of their ‘Live From Home’ online performances and workshops, the VOCES8 foundation are launching a new online festival in response to the coronavirus pandemic: Live From London. The festival, featuring weekly concerts from 1 August to 3 -
Stanislas de Barbeyrac August 1st, 2020 French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac has performed in opera houses all over Europe, including Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House, the Opéra National de Paris, Staatsoper Berlin and the Teatro Real in Madrid. He talks to me from his home in -
Roman Parties
Respighi: Feste Romane July 31st, 2020The last of Ottorino Respighi’s celebrations of Rome looked at its festivals. Feste romane was completed in 1928 and received its premiere under the baton of Toscanini in February 1929. Roman Festivals starts with the ancient history of the Romans -
My Favourite Piano Sonata July 30th, 2020 Of all the piano sonatas to choose, from the wit of Haydn, the elegance and chiaroscuro of Mozart, the poignancy of Schubert, Chopin’s restless romanticism, Rachmaninoff’s Russian heart, the biting narrative of Prokofiev’s War Sonatas, and many, many more which -
Composers in the Court Room
Beethoven versus Beethoven July 28th, 2020On occasion, it’s rather difficult trying to get along with your siblings in law. Just ask Ludwig van Beethoven, who was involved in a bitter custody battle with his brother Carl’s widow, Johanna. It all kicked off in 1815, and -
Nikolai Kapustin – “Classical Jazz” July 27th, 2020 The passing of Nikolai Kapustin is undoubtedly a great loss to the classical music world. He had remained largely obscure until the recent decades, thanks to Steven Osborne and Marc-André Hamelin’s recordings on Hyperion in the early 2000s. Since then,