The Belligerent Virtuoso Our birthday boy this month is Louis Marchand (1669-1732), born 350 years ago in Lyons on 2 February 1669. By all accounts, he was a rather strange and disturbed character. Described as restless, cumbersome, self-conceited, and ambitious

‘We’re all on the same side’ German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt plays Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta on 1 December. It’s not his first visit to Hong Kong – he was in Hong Kong previously for

“I esteem what deserves esteem” In 2018 we celebrate the 350th birthday of François Couperin (1668-1733), a composer described as “the epitome of French music” by both Debussy and Ravel. Couperin was undoubtedly the most famous member of a family

“Before Mozart, all musical ambition turns to despair” Charles Gounod was born 200 years ago, on 17 June 1818 in Paris. Today we primarily remember him as the composer of the opera Faust and an Ave Maria descant to the

‘Something Beyond Understanding’ I begin my interview with Adrien La Marca with a discussion not about music, but of food. Ahead of his performance of the Walton Viola Concerto in Hong Kong on 2 June, we talk about where to

“The Divine Arcadelt” Jacques Arcadelt (1507-1568) was one of the most famous of the early composers of madrigals. The Venetian printer Antonio Gardano issued his Primo libro in 1538, but no copy of this edition is known to survive. Apparently,

Sonic Explorer and Visionary On 25 March 1918, Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918) lost his battle with rectal cancer at his Paris home. Aged 55, Debussy was universally acknowledged as one of the most important musicians of his time. His harmonic innovations

Spiritual Radiance in Music 25 years ago, on 27 April 1992, one of the most original and influential musical minds of the 20th century passed away in Paris. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was the leading French composer of the generation after