Aristo Sham’s victory at the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition signifies a landmark achievement in Hong Kong’s classical music history. Unsurprisingly, tickets to his homecoming concerts at the University of Hong Kong were snapped up within minutes. Once lauded

If the directors of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro intended to set the fox among the chickens and shake up their audience this year, they certainly succeeded. Just the mention of controversial director Calixto Bieito set tongues wagging and

One of my favourite memories of all time is of snorkelling in Fiji on a school trip in my late teens. The beaches were light and sandy, the water somehow both bright turquoise and perfectly translucent. Equipped with flippers and

With much fanfare, the Salzburg Festival announced Ulrich Rasche as director of Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. A proponent of “perpetual stage movement and intense lighting to create visceral experiences,” the German director’s vision was of two queens, each stuck in

It’s not often you see a production of Rigoletto that focuses more on the louche women rather than the louche men. The revival production by Greek National Opera, originally staged in 2022, tried to set the scene in the ‘corrupt

After 48 years – mirabile dictu – Milan’s Teatro alla Scala has mustered the courage to bring back Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma. The reasons for the long absence are somewhat unclear. Were memories of Montserrat Caballé’s sensational 1977 performance still too fresh?

The Sitkovetsky Trio started Day 4 with a concert of Schubert and Beethoven’s piano trios. Opening with Schubert’s Trio (Sonata in 1 movt) in B♭ major, D 28, a work written when Schubert was only 15, we heard a work

Glorious summer weather set the perfect tone for Day 3 of the July Schubertiade in Hohenems, promising a day rich in excitement and artistry; and the audience was not disappointed. The afternoon session featured the Dutch piano duo of Lucas