Spin this record of Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony played at a 1971 live concert at the Royal Albert Hall by the Leningrad Symphony and you will see what we are missing.
The selection of songs made here by soprano Mary Bevan and tenor Nicky Spence includes a number of composers who are way out of period but still in the mood.
I can’t remember a pre-Christmas season that started so sluggishly, without an obvious blockbuster on display. DG and Sony are leading with cultish solo pianists;…
In the inexhaustible search for women in history, Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704) has emerged from the mists of Novara as the most prolific composer of the…
While writing a book about Beethoven (to be published next year), I recoiled from many of the pupils, acolytes, secretaries, amanuenses, self-seeking musicians and all…