classical music & opera
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Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Abba, Glass and the Legend of Zelda – the conductor tells us about the music and musicians who inspire him
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Electric atmosphere as Valery Gergiev conducts Funeral Song at Maryinsky concert hall in St Petersburg
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Il Postino director Michael Radford’s film of the life of the famous tenor will explore the relationship between loss of sight and hearing
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Gražinytė-Tyla was the name of the year, Chineke! took off, Levit and Trifonov blazed a trail and ENO delivered opera of the highest standards
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Sotheby’s hits out at ‘irresponsible’ academic who publicly questioned legitimacy of work credited to Beethoven’s hand, despite not inspecting it in person. But Professor Barry Cooper says he is backed by other scholars
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Ernst Krenek’s setting of the underworld myth, from a play by Oskar Kokoschka written after his turbulent affair with Alma Mahler, is patchy but delivered with love
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Thibault Noally (violin), Les Accents
(Aparte)
facing the music
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The cellist on growing up with Schubert and Schumann, and the fascination of the theremin
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From Keith Jarrett’s new musical grammar to John Cage’s iconoclasm via Bach and Busoni, the composer and pianist tells us what inspires him
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weekly from the archive
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9 March 1971: Meirion Bowen on the scholar, virtuosic musician and crumhorn whizzkid at the forefront of the period-instrument movement, who died tragically young 40 years ago
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From the archive, 23 April 1827: Following the death of Beethoven, the Observer publishes a personal account of the eccentric and prodigiously talented composer
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From the archive, 11 August 1876: The Guardian reports from the very first Bayreuth Wagner festival, presided over by the composer himself.
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Comment A subsidised critic is the thin end of a dangerous wedge
Michael BillingtonThe Boston Globe’s initiative to fund a classical music critic by nonprofit groups raises troubling questions for arts critics on both sides of the Atlantic -
Arguments in favour left many unconvinced, and with his Barbican concerts Simon Rattle has already showed the difference he can make to a venue’s sound
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you may have missed
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William Kentridge and conductor Mark Wigglesworth underplay the humour as Brenda Rae proves a tireless, enigmatic heart to a production awash with projected imagery
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This young Greek conductor’s recordings of Mozart operas have redefined music and changed my life with their profound vision, energy and face-punching force
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The choirmaster who used to sell ice creams on Bournemouth beach is angling for his next Christmas No 1 – and teaching Team GB how to sing the National Anthem properly
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Photographer Teri Pengilly was given exclusive access to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday to watch preparations for the biggest night in classical music’s calendar
guides
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Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
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Our series ends in Berlin, the classical music lover’s dream destination, with Berg, Busoni, Bowie and Bernstein.
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Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
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Mozart 225 Classical stars pick their favourite Wolfgang Amadeus wonder