For musicians, trading off stories about conductors is the water-cooler-iest form of water cooler gossip. Tales of incompetence abound, and those who are lucky enough to gain approval are spoken of with respect and appreciation. To an audience, conducting seems
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Plácido Domingo is recognized as one of the best and most influential singing actors in the world of opera. He has recorded over 100 complete operas in addition to arias and duets compilations, and his crossover recordings have earned him
Following my article about Schubert’s Drei Klavierstucke, here is another piano work which I feel is unfairly overlooked and rarely performed, perhaps simply because of its brevity and apparent simplicity. Yet Schubert packs an expressive punch and offers the pianist
On 20 January 2014, Claudio Abbado died at the age of 80 after a long and severe illness in Bologna. One of the greatest conductors of his time, he led La Scala, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, and the Lucerne
On 19 January 1873, the French cellist, viola da gamba player and instrument maker Auguste Tolbecque premiered Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, a work specifically composed for him. Tolbecque was a close personal friend,
If one had to name, from the top of the mind, what the most well-known instruments are, the result would probably be the following: the piano, the guitar and the violin. I have already written about how the piano and
Commemorating all NHS workers who lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic In early 2021, the British Medical Association (BMA) opened applications for a commission that would commemorate the lives lost of those who worked for Britain’s National Health Service
Once again, it is time for the annual pick of the most promising opera singers of the new year. But first, like any good stock picker, we need to take account of how last year’s winners fared. Stock pickers would