Dame Myra Hess (1890–1965) is known to most people today as the face of the famed WWII concerts held in the National Gallery in London. Jessica Duchen’s new biography reveals the personality behind the picture, and it is a key

This new release from pianist Eva Maria Doroszkowska showcases the piano music of two of the most important women composers of their generation. Hailing from the Baltic region of Europe, Latvian Lūcija Garūta (1902–1977) and Estonian Ester Mägi (1922–2021) wrote

‘Sapiens’ is the title of the international best-selling book by Yuval Noah Harari – a monumental, ground-breaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution, that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of

It is a rare, stupendous, and overwhelmingly promising feat when the first track of an album brings you to tears. It is nonetheless a feat that Darragh Morgan’s new release For Violin and Electronics II has achieved for me on

Stinsford church, near Dorchester in Dorset in the south-west of England, just a short distance from Thomas Hardy’s birthplace at Upper Bockhampton, and the place where his heart is buried, provided the perfect setting for A Beautiful Thread, a new

Where most productions of Turandot focus on the glory of the Imperial Court, NGO’s new Turandot doesn’t even get in the front door. Part of this is due to the setting, in the Greek amphitheatre of The Odeon of Herodes

To the large pile of recordings made by Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997), a new jewel must be added. This new release of material recorded 60 years ago gives us 4 Beethoven sonatas recorded in 1965. Three of the live recordings were

Last November, I had the privilege of listening to Krystian Zimerman play Chopin’s Piano Sonatas No. 2 and 3 in two consecutive evenings. You might wonder: why am I writing about it more than half a year later? That, precisely,