classical
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Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde changed musical and cultural history, exploring the nature of love, sex, life and death.
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Bernstein called it ‘the central work of all music history’. Wagner’s radical music-drama was deemed unperformable when first written, but time has proved the Vienna Court Opera very wrong.
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The conductor – who led the Berlin Phil from 1956 to 1989 – is the subject of a new BBC documentary. But he remains an enigmatic figure, whose musical approach sounds a false note in today’s world
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Tim Ashley's opera guide Love stories
In the first of a six-part series, Tim Ashley goes in search of the best opera productions available to watch complete on YouTube. -
This entrancing collection shows Feldman testing notation to destruction, says Andrew Clements
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10 of the best Musical riots
Classical music has always had the power to touch the rawest of nerves of taste, feeling, politics, and identity. Here’s our pick of the 10 most infamous musical riots. -
$100,000 composing award honours the prolific 62-year-old musician
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Roland Lamb’s touch sensitive instrument allows the musician to manipulate pitch, timbre and volume through the fingertips
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Composer, conductor and trumpeter with a passion for all things northern
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The UK premiere of James MacMillan’s passion showed the work’s touching directness, but an ultimate lack of awe, writes Rian Evans
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A cerebral and guarded Matthias Pintscher left out the sensuality and romance in this all-French programme, writes Kate Molleson
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Review Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opus 31 and 49 cd review – Pollini is fearsomely implacable
3 / 5 starsPollini’s treatment of the work is less fearsome than it might have been, with moments of delicacy and wit, says Andrew Clements -
Review Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires CD review – three generations of Argentinian composers
3 / 5 starsThe Sinfonietta have mastered the slides and snaps that bring flavour to the music, but lack that crucial quality, says Andrew Clement -
Every rhythmic detail from Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony was teased out, and cellist Alexey Stadler gave an expressive reading of Elgar, writes Martin Kettle
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Solo roles are efficiently, if not outstandingly sung, but Hugo Reyne and the chorus relish the score, says Andrew Clements
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One of Villa-Lobos’s less convincing symphonies is lifted by the orchestra’s charm, says Andrew Clements
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Jurowski puts Rachmaninov’s problematic symphony in context, while soloist Igor Levit is sensational in Scriabin, writes Tim Ashley
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Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 3 December 1919: Edward Elgar is one of this country’s finest composers but a string of inadequate performances and his popularity among ‘the wrong sort’ do him no favours
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Longtime principal flute with the Hallé admired for his brilliant technique and outstanding musicianship
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Contrasting styles and a vast emotional range rendered the duo’s performance of Beethoven’s cello sonatas poised and intense, writes Tim Ashley
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The UK premiere of James MacMillan’s passion showed the work’s touching directness, but an ultimate lack of awe, writes Rian Evans
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A cerebral and guarded Matthias Pintscher left out the sensuality and romance in this all-French programme, writes Kate Molleson
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Every rhythmic detail from Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony was teased out, and cellist Alexey Stadler gave an expressive reading of Elgar, writes Martin Kettle
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Jurowski puts Rachmaninov’s problematic symphony in context, while soloist Igor Levit is sensational in Scriabin, writes Tim Ashley
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Contrasting styles and a vast emotional range rendered the duo’s performance of Beethoven’s cello sonatas poised and intense, writes Tim Ashley
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The Reykjavik musician has put the bad old days behind him for a witty, orchestra-backed set, writes Malcolm Jack
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Rott’s debts to his close friend Mahler were all too apparent but there were moments of great beauty and tremendous energy, writes Tim Ashley
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Manoury’s early string quartet outstayed its welcome, but Mason’s Second revealed charm and technical brilliance, writes Andrew Clements
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The past haunted the present at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival in two substantial works by James Dillon, writes Andrew Clements
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The Other Mary has its longueurs, but John Adams’s remarkable score is brilliantly performed at the Coliseum, writes Fiona Maddocks
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Nelson’s Bruckner was athletic, direct and texturally interesting, while Hough played Schumann’s Piano Concerto with his usual cool brilliance, writes Andrew Clements
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An unparalleled cast and exquisite soundscapes made this production completely spellbinding, writes Tim Ashley
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Christopher Fox’s aunt was executed by the Nazi government – in this fine, Bach-infused work, he recreates her final hours, writes Alfred Hickling
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Radu Lupu, a rare fixture on the UK concert trail, again proved himself one of the great pianists of our time, writes Andrew Clements
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The pianist Steven Osborne was the star of this evening, with his subtle, insightful and jazzy account of Ravel’s G major concerto, writes Kate Molleson
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This fine semi-staging of Weber’s ‘problem’ opera, a sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, revealed its magic, messy beauty, writes Tim Ashley
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A partnership with guest director Richard Tognetti brings zest and brilliance to the OAE, writes Rian Evans
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The world premiere of James Dillon’s Stabat Mater Dolorosa was a Huddersfield festival highlight with its powerfully individual music, writes Andrew Clements
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Petr Kotik conducted a long-lost reworking by John Cage and nyMusikk Bergen performed a retelling of the grail legend with almost indecently intimate music, writes Alfred Hickling
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Pollini’s treatment of the work is less fearsome than it might have been, with moments of delicacy and wit, says Andrew Clements
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Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires CD review – three generations of Argentinian composers
3 / 5 starsThe Sinfonietta have mastered the slides and snaps that bring flavour to the music, but lack that crucial quality, says Andrew Clement -
Solo roles are efficiently, if not outstandingly sung, but Hugo Reyne and the chorus relish the score, says Andrew Clements
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One of Villa-Lobos’s less convincing symphonies is lifted by the orchestra’s charm, says Andrew Clements
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Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen surprise and delight, writes Fiona Maddocks
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Philippe Herreweghe and co deliver a fittingly small-scale account of Byrd’s wonderful five-part mass, writes Nicholas Kenyon
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Husband-and-wife duo Fiammetta Tarli and Ivo Varbanov clearly love this four-handed repertoire, writes Stephen Pritchard
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Played on a replica of an 18th-century harpsichord, with a big sound but not much range, this treatment of the preludes is interesting but gruff, writes Andrew Clements
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Jean-Luc Tingaud and the RTE Symphony reveal the impressionistic, colouristic character of one of the neglected masterpieces of the early 20th century, writes Andrew Clements
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Highly accomplished extracts from the fourth, fifth and sixth books of Monteverdi’s madrigals
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Despite the sleeve notes’ claim to the contrary, Luis Fernando Pérez does not belong in the same company as Alicia de Larrocha as a Falla interpreter, writes Andrew Clements
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Adams: Chamber Symphony; Copland: Appalachian Spring etc CD review – immensely suggestive
4 / 5 starsThis musical tour of 20th-century American classics is carefully thought out and performed with subtlety and panache, writes Andrew Clements -
The French pianist takes Mozart’s “Jeunehomme” concerto and runs with it, writes Fiona Maddocks
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Les Vents Français have fun with a flurry of pieces for woodwind and piano, writes Nicholas Kenyon
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Thomas is the perfect guide for this beautiful body of work, writes Andrew Clements
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It’s a CD of two parts: Pierné’s diffuse trio and Fauré’s less routine invention, writes Andrew Clements
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Rihm: Seven Passion Texts; Nono: ¿Donde estas, hermano? etc CD review – every note matters
4 / 5 starsExaudi offers an exquisite interpretation of the German composer’s serene sequence of choral pieces, writes Andrew Clements -
Bach: English Suites, 1, 3 and 5 CD review – conveys the special qualities of Anderszewski’s Bach
4 / 5 starsThe Polish-Hungarian pianist has a real sense of intellectual curiosity and purity, writes Andrew Clements -
The playing is wonderfully alive, and it’s well worth hearing –even if you won’t want to hear it that often, writes Andrew Clements
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Tom Service on classical music Wagner's Tristan und Isolde: nothing in music history was the same again
Bernstein called it ‘the central work of all music history’. Wagner’s radical music-drama was deemed unperformable when first written, but time has proved the Vienna Court Opera very wrong. Tom Service selects a few of the highlights available to watch, or listen to, on YouTube. -
Is El Sistema a model of tyranny?
Geoff BakerFar from the shining example of how classical music can change vulnerable young lives many claim it to be, Venezuala’s El Sistema fails the country’s most deprived children -
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Understandable as English National Opera’s need is to cut costs, to cancel their first project outside London in 15 years is the wrong way to save money
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Violinist Thomas Gould is one of a new generation of classical musicians who refuses to be defined by a single genre. He explains why a diverse career enriches his and the audience’s experience
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The United States is coming close to censorship
Peter SellarsHe’s notorious for directing the controversial opera Klinghoffer, but Peter Sellars has no regrets about the outrage it provoked. Will The Gospel According to the Other Mary, his modern Passion inspired by censorship, poverty and slave labour, cause a new storm?
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Alan Davey says station will not become more like Classic FM to address shrinking audience and will still offer ‘complex culture’
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$100,000 composing award honours the prolific 62-year-old musician
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In the 19th, 20th and even the 21st centuries, classical music has had the power to touch the rawest of nerves of taste, feeling, politics, and identity. Here’s our pick of the 10 most infamous musical riots.
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The creeping replacement of artistic leaders with managers doesn’t just threaten arts organisations but national cultural life, says Belvoir’s artistic director
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The viola was the instrument of choice for Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Dvorák and Beethoven; Jimi Hendrix and John Cale both played it; it’s what violinists turn to to improve technique, so why is the viola the butt of jokes? Tabea Zimmermann defends her instrument
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Aldeburgh Music has commissioned 10 new songs for communal singing; you can listen to schoolchildren across Europe perform them live tomorrow
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Check out the Boiler Room’s stream of a live collaboration between Jonny Greenwood and the London Contemporary Orchestra. Groundbreaking and bold? Maybe; great music, yes, definitely.
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Tom Service: Listen to the strange music of the spheres with recordings gathered by spacecraft
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Performance artist Jonathan Meese, notorious for performing the Nazi salute on stage, will no longer direct Wagner’s Parsifal for the 2016 festival
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Fusion all too often means a hybrid that takes the bite out of both genres. Tom Service picks his 10 favourite moments when jazz met classical and the result was inspired rather than insipid
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Alison Watt: The rippling of wooden bobbins, the sound of 2,000 lengths of wool being stretched taut… these make a fine accompaniment when an artist’s design is woven into being
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The ground is shifting in the opera world – across Australia as elswhere – but the national review and a touch of showbiz are re-booting the sector beyond Melbourne and Sydney, says Lindy Hume
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In a week full of remembrance of the first world war centenary, nominate music all about what we hope comes after the fighting, says Peter Kimpton
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Peter Bradshaw: Notebook: The Washington Post’s imbroglio with Dejan Lazić is a salutory story for all critics. I won’t make the same kind of mistake
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A film detailing an Australian music professor’s theory that Bach’s second wife Anna Magdalena composed one of his most famous works is causing a classical stir. Renowned cellist Steven Isserlis debunks the claim
you may have missed
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The playing is wonderfully alive, and it’s well worth hearing – even if you won’t want to hear it that often
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Tom Arber’s behind-the-scenes photographs of Opera North as the company prepared for a new production of La Traviata.
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A classical version of the Who’s rock production will be orchestrated by the musician’s partner Rachel Fuller and features Alfie Boe on vocals
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Go to the north pole with Doctor Who, boo Jerry Hall as a wicked queen, watch Dustin Hoffman woo Judi Dench, and finish it all off with sprout ice-cream … the best of the festive fun
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Longtime principal flute with the Hallé admired for his brilliant technique and outstanding musicianship
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We present an occasional and light-hearted series: a selection of 10 entirely subjectively chosen clips, this week representing our pick of classical music’s best parodies, comedies, and sketches
guides
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Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
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Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
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Topics
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Was Kyung Wha Chung right to upbraid a coughing child disturbing her recital?