The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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Long Yu: Guardian of the Orchestral Galaxy August 3rd, 2019 For any music journalist, to nail down an interview with Long Yu would be mission impossible. Not only because the man has an endless line-up of meetings, auditions to attend, rehearsals, concerts to lead who spends his day by minute, -
The Beautiful Sound of the Recorder – Really! August 2nd, 2019 In the mid-1980s one of my music teachers was the composer and recorder player Ian Shanahan. I once asked him why he loved and played the recorder? His reply still rings true today. “No one ever told me that the -
Sabine Devieilhe August 1st, 2019 ‘Humanity in Every Note’ I catch up with French coloratura soprano Sabine Devieilhe in London, in between her performances of Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House. After winning a unanimous First Prize at the Paris -
Three French Female Composers Whose Music You Should Explore
Louise Farrenc, Cecile Chaminade and Germaine Tailleferre July 31st, 2019She took piano lessons with Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, studied composition with Anton Reicha, a friend of Beethoven’s, and renowned violinist Joseph Joachim performed in the premiere of her nonet for wind and strings. During her lifetime, Louise -
She’s Just a Little Mad, My Head Is on Straight
Kurt Weill’s 7 Deadly Sins July 30th, 2019In 1932, Kurt Weill was commissioned to write a ballet. But, this was a ballet with a difference. Commissioned by the Englishman Edward James for his ballerina wife, Tilly Losch, James specified that Lotte Lenya would sing it and his -
The Immersive Choir
An Interview with Paul Smith of VOCES8 July 29th, 2019For his first album as a composer and solo artist, Paul Smith, co-founder with his brother of the a capella group VOCES8, brought together VOCES8, his other group Apollo5, and 2,500 more singers. Simple. Not so simple. The 2,500 singers -
Music Versus Noise – A Response to Rob J Kennedy July 29th, 2019 What is music? And what is noise? These questions have always been lingering in my mind – without any absolute solution. As one of our contributors, Rob, eloquently discussed, there is no consensual agreement on a singular definition of music. -
Musicians and Artists: Ortiz and Veronese July 28th, 2019 In his monumental painting, The Wedding at Cana (1563), the Italian painter Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) portrayed the biblical story of the marriage at Cana (John 2:1-11) where Jesus saves the celebration by his miraculous conversion of water into wine. The