The only way is Wexford
Also this week: A new president for Ireland, and an operatic national anthem
ByClassical music
When did opera become elitist?
Alexandra Wilson’s history of the art form in Britain shows how it used to appeal to everyone, from miners to…
By
Arvo Pärt: the holy minimalist who defied the Soviets
Now 90, the Estonian composer has spent a lifetime crafting music of profound beauty.
By
The earworms of Erik Satie
The dapper composer who invented background music was driven by a profound if offbeat religiosity.
By
The fascist afterlife of The Four Seasons
Vivaldi’s masterwork, forgotten after his death, found new popularity when it was co-opted by Italian nationalists.
By
The top ten piano trios
Dominic Degavino of the Mithras Trio on the greatest examples of the form.
By
The sound of Auschwitz
A new documentary marking the 80th Holocaust Memorial Day tells the extraordinary story of the camp’s 15 orchestras.
By
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ bitter symphony
The composer’s exhilarating Sinfonia antartica was met with a mixed response on premiere – and still sits oddly in his…
By
The indulgent sadness of Angelina Jolie’s Maria
The opera singer Maria Callas is Pablo Larraín’s latest glamorous, unhappy, unknowable muse – or is it Jolie herself?
By
New year, same me
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there’s no point in making aspirational resolutions.
By
Berlioz’s Christmas hit
The composer was not religious but saw his L’enfance du Christ as a deeply human story – and audiences deemed…
By
Mendelssohn’s pinnacle of music-making
The beauty of the composer’s piano trios is renewed in the hands of three virtuosos.
By
Longing for Labour, once again
Also this week: meditations on love and loss, and the bliss of the Berlin Philarmonic.
By
The Tallis Scholars at Saffron Hall: sublime and moving
“Mysteries and Miracles” explores several centuries of sacred music.
By
The friendship that made Shostakovich
The Gates of Kyiv explores the friendship between the composer and the pianist Maria Yudina – and the horrors of…
By
Gustav Holst beyond The Planets
The composer, born 150 years ago this month, should be better known for his many other great works.
By
Florence + the Machine at the Proms: a thrilling two hours of pure emotion
This imaginative orchestral reworking of her debut album Lungs was part film score, part pop song, and totally euphoric.
By
Listening to Debussy at thrash metal volume
One shouldn’t use a fork to scoop ear wax out, but I was getting frantic.
By
Beethoven and the Romantic spirit
The composer’s Third Cello Sonata, an underrated masterwork, cuts up the musical form and reassembles it anew.
By
Discovering the real Modest Mussorgsky
Sweetened arrangements of his works ensured the Russian composer’s afterlife – but left him hiding in plain sight.
By- 1
- 2