The 30-year friendship of Dmitri Shostakovich and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich started in 1943 when Rostropovich was at the Moscow Conservatory. Shostakovich had recently joined the Conservatory, and Rostropovich was part of his orchestration class. The Shostakovich family had left their

Greek National Opera’s revival of Katie Mitchell’s production for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is based around the idea of a split stage. This idea sometimes worked and other times was just a distraction. Singing would take place on

In London, April is the month of cherry blossoms: clouds of pastel blooms flourish on seemingly every street corner. As the fullness of spring creeps into these gradually brighter days, I find myself craving new music and new sound worlds.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted English pianist Margaret Fingerhut to explore her Ukrainian roots through music. Her grandfather emigrated from Odessa to the UK to avoid the Jewish pogroms at the turn of the 20th century.

One of the most promising pianists of her generation, Beatrice Rana has produced yet another fascinating survey of four of Bach’s Keyboard Concertos with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. As Rana explained in the liner notes, Bach has been an important figure

English music in the early– to mid–20th century was characterised by what became known as the “English Pastoral”, with music by composers including Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and many others. The Pastoral School had several strong interests, such

Korean-American pianist Julian Jaeyoung Kim made a bold statement with his debut CD, ‘Brahms Resonances’, featuring Brahms’ Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5, and the Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35 (Read our review here). Now, in his

Kate Liu first made her name by garnering the third prize at the Chopin Competition 2015, where she was awarded the most 10’s in the finals. With her concert activity previously halted by a hand injury, it is heartening to