Features & Interviews
First Person: Director Sir David Pountney on creating a new 'Masque of Might' from the music of Purcell
Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Purcell came very early to me. When I was a chorister at St. John’s Cambridge “Jehova quam multi sunt” was a perennial favourite and we were thrilled by the evenings when George Guest brought in some string players to accompany Purcell’s verse anthems. These were special occasions. Then, since no management had the wit to invite me to direct Purcell, I finally engaged myself to direct The Fairy Queen at ENO.
First Person: conductor Edward Gardner on some of his questions and obsessions about Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony
Friday, 22 September 2023
“If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.”“What is best in music is not to be found in the notes.”
First Person: 'America's sweetheart...
Thursday, 21 September 2023
I have always had a fascination with concert programmes. I did my Doctorate thesis on this subject. I remember vividly as a youngster attending many...
Side By Side Ukrainian Film Festival, Curzon Soho...
Wednesday, 20 September 2023
François Truffaut said that there is no such thing as an anti-war film because cinema inevitably glorifies the horror of conflict. The premise was...
First Person: the Bayerisches Staatsorchester...
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Nine cities in seven countries; all in all, eleven concerts, on top of that, an appearance at home in Munich. Celebrating its 500th anniversary, the...
First Person: mezzo Stephanie Wake-Edwards on open dialogue and shared goals in the new show 'FEAST'
On class, identity and the joy of true collaboration |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2023 - small seaside town, biggest roster of top players
Every musician's a star in Paavo Järvi's superband Estonian Festival Orchestra |
theartsdesk at the Voces8 Summer School - musical oasis offers opportunities for all
Welcoming environment aids celebration of vocal music in all its forms |
'The music business was created for people like me who are not criminal enough to go to jail, and not mad enough to go to the nuthouse'. Sinéad O'Connor, 1966-2023
An interview with the great singer in 2013 in which she discusses her new album, God, pharmacology and Bob Dylan |
Appraising Billie Holiday's 'Fine and Mellow' - anatomy of a jazz masterpiece
The making of a thrilling document about jazz |
First Person: tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas on recording a queer-themed album
Collaborating with Iain Burnside on Britten, Tippett, Gipps, Browne - and the author |
First Person: composer Lukas Ligeti on how his father György inspired a new approach
As the Aldeburgh Festival celebrates Ligeti Senior's 100th anniversary, his son reflects |
First Person: playwright Tom Fowler on allowing room for 'Hope'
The Royal Court playwright discusses the influences on his newly acclaimed play |
First Person: pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason on how childhood informs her latest recording
Once-popular Dohnányi masterpiece gets a new lease of life in a personal selection |
theartsdesk in Denmark - celebrating Nielsen in high style
'Nielsen, Nielsen, Nielsen!' presents the greatest of symphonists in the round |
First Person: composer Kate Whitley on a new work for the Borletti-Buitoni Trust’s 20th anniversary
True collaboration about social media with the Multi-Story Orchestra at its core |
'Right now, we're in chaos': pianist and Leeds Lieder director Joseph Middleton on catastrophic cuts to arts funding
A superb organisation is commended, then gets its grant axed for missing 'data collection' |
First Person: composer Russell Hepplewhite on setting John Burningham's 'Borka' to music
The goose with no feathers embarks on an operatic tour |
First Person: violinist and animateur Bjarte Eike on filming the celebrated Alehouse Sessions
Barokksolistene's mover and shaker on the thinking behind his group's 'old pop music' |
First Person: young composer Chris Brooke on his fanfare for the Coronation Bandstand Project
Music for Youth's big venture celebrated by one of its musicians |
A different angle on the Anne Frank story in 'A Small Light'
Bel Powley, Liev Schreiber and Joe Cole star in Disney's new eight-part drama |
First Person: Sophie Haydock on going beyond the grave
Sophie Haydock traces the ups and downs of securing a memorial for Adele Harms, subject of her debut novel, 'The Flames' |
Hunting legendary treasure with ballet's Indiana Jones - Pierre Lacotte 1932-2023
The prolific recreator of early ballets has died, leaving a lively argument |
First Person: Donatella Flick on why the conducting competition in her name is needed more than ever
The 17th Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition reaches its final tonight |
First Person: Anna Clyne on composing collaborations, not battles, in her latest concertos
UK premiere of 'Weathered' for clarinettist Martin Fröst is among a series of new works |
Axing the BBC Singers: four associated musicians on why it's so wrong
Dame Sarah Connolly leads musical voices on the latest cultural vandalism |
'You want to cry from loving to do it so much' - Lynn Seymour 1939-2023
Remembering the unique ballerina who injected me with her poison |
First Person: conductor Harry Bicket on filming the complete Handel for The English Concert's big new project
On creating 'Handel for All', a free online resource featuring top performances |
Extract: The Northern Silence - Journeys in Nordic Music and Culture by Andrew Mellor
The pandemic’s failure to silence Denmark and the power of communal sound |
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