Award shows have long perfected the art of preaching to the converted. Year after year, they gather the most devoted insiders to celebrate their achievements, affirm shared values, and rehearse familiar narratives about excellence, innovation, or social responsibility. The result

Greek National Opera, housed at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, was host to the 2025 International Opera Awards in November. What was wonderful was its overview of the entire world of opera – not only in Europe but also

With an intense, focused opening, violinist Paul Huang and pianist Helen Huang bring us immediately into the world of Francis Poulenc (1899–1963). His violin sonata, FP 119, was written during WWII, and then later revised. During the War, Poulenc was

One of the problems with reviewing recordings of sacred music is the underlying fear that the work is being recorded for its musical value rather than its value in the larger realm of sacred belief. It probably happens more with

Each December, the Sonorité Saxophone Quartet can be found performing Christmas concerts across Hertfordshire and North London – family events filled with music, laughter, and a sense of community. This delightful album brings together familiar favourites, new arrangements, and original

Created as a three-part collaboration between the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Royal Opera House in London, and Greek National Opera, director Oliver Mears moves the setting from the unknowable past to the current day. The costumes, by Annemarie Woods, are

After interviewing Aristo Sham about his album Timeline, I gained a deeper appreciation for the artistic vision that underpins this remarkable recording. What first appears to be a program tracing Western music’s evolution from Bach to Grieg soon reveals itself as

Nikolai Kapustin (1937–2020) occupies a distinctive place in 20th- and 21st-century music. A classically trained pianist and composer, Kapustin cleverly fused the formal, structural rigour of classical music with the rhythmic vitality and improvisational idioms of jazz. His works defy