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Music ‘Has to Be Alive, It Has to Live’
Igudesman & Joo
Mozart Will Survive Violinist Aleksey Igudesman and pianist Hyung-ki Joo, better known as Igudesman & Joo, have performed their riotous duo shows all over the world, working alone as well as alongside major orchestras, sending up classical music to packed
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The Life of Luigi Boccherini
The Price of Musical Fame
A new life of Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805) has been published by Kahn & Averill in London. Babette Kaiserkern’s Luigi Boccherini: Musica Amorosa gives us a new and complete life of an extremely talented composer whose music has been neglected for
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Enough: Scenes from Childhood
Stephen Hough
The title of this memoir is a clue to just how much, or how little, the author, the celebrated concert pianist and polymath Sir Stephen Hough, is prepared to reveal. Anyone looking for an account of “how I became a
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Russia Today – A Requiem for Peace
On 16 February, the London premiere of Russia Today takes place at King’s Place concert hall. With music by Russian-born composer Eugene Birman, the piece – written during the covid pandemic – features text drawn verbatim from Russians living both
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The Ghost Variations
A Novel by Damian Lanigan
Declan Byrnie, child prodigy, and world-class concert pianist has enjoyed a glittering career from a young age, touring the world’s best concert halls and producing acclaimed recordings. Ten years into his career his wife dies in a terrible accident, and
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“I Can’t Make Music Without Sharing” – House Concert by Igor Levit
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
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Reading Franz Liszt: The Poetry Behind the Piano Music
“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
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Every Good Boy Does Fine
Pianist Jeremy Denk’s Memoir
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
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