Classical Features
'In a country of marvellous communicators': violinist Katherine Hunka on life with the Irish Chamber OrchestraSunday, 17 May 2020
As a musician I spend so much time on the road that a day spent at home is a rarity. And now, with the restrictions we all face, and concerts an impossibility, I am becoming a keen gardener and making a lot of soup. It is also a time of reflection. There is nothing like being told to stay at home to make you think about how home came about, particularly when it’s abroad. Read more... |
In memoriam Dmitri Smirnov (1948-2020) - a personal tribute by Gerard McBurneyThursday, 07 May 2020
November 1979… and a small group of Soviet composers (dubbed the "Khrennikov Seven") unexpectedly found themselves the targets of a boorish public assault by that once infamous General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, in a speech at the organisation’s Sixth Congress in Moscow, describing them as “pretentious… pointless… sensation seeking… noisy filth… a so-called ‘avant-garde’…” Dima and his wife,... Read more... |
Classical Music/Opera direct to home 9 - musicians start cautiously reunitingFriday, 01 May 2020
It seems like a different world when the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle gave a full concert to an empty hall as the world began to go into lockdown. Now, on continental Europe at least, orchestral musician plus the occasional star conductor and soloist(s) are cautiously reuniting in smaller numbers, though still as yet without a live audience. Read more... |
First Person: CEO Stephen Maddock on the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's strange centenary yearThursday, 23 April 2020
This year was supposed to be so very different. For the best part of the last decade we have been planning a series of major events to take place in 2020 to mark the centenary of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Read more... |
Waiving the fees: Rob Adediran on how London Music Masters’ Team Teach is responding to a crisisWednesday, 15 April 2020
Our brains are hardwired to respond to crisis by fleeing or fighting. Crisis creates fear and fear demands action so we protect ourselves by running from danger or battling against it. You can see these instinctive responses in the language of the moment where the coronavirus is described as an invisible enemy that must be defeated, and in our actions as we move away from one another to maintain a crucial social distance to protect ourselves and others. Read more... |
'Most significant is the experience of being confronted by different ideas': Steven Osborne on free piano lessons from quarantineThursday, 02 April 2020
How fast the world can change. What seemed unimaginable just weeks ago, the effective shuttering of our societies, is now a reality in many countries for at least weeks and quite possibly several months to come. I hope for the health and security of all of you reading this. I’m not going to reflect on our situation at any length as I’m sure many of you have read far more on the subject than is good for you - I certainly have! Read more... |
Remembering Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)Tuesday, 31 March 2020
No composer since Stravinsky has defined his age as comprehensively as Krzysztof Penderecki, who died on Sunday aged 86. Read more... |
Classical Music/Opera direct to home 4 - Rattle in the etherSunday, 29 March 2020
He may no longer be the Berlin Philharmoniker's Chief Conductor, but by a combination of serendipity and foresight on the orchestra's part, Simon Rattle's last concert in Berlin for the foreseeable future was filmed without an audience and led the way for other, smaller-scale ventures before... Read more... |
Notes on a no-show - Nico MuhlyTuesday, 24 March 2020
The following is adapted from a programme note for a show which was to have premiered last Thursday – the very day Sadler's Wells went dark. Nico Muhly – Drawn Lines was part of an occasional series featuring composers who are making an impact on dance. Read more... |
'Pause. Notice. Breathe': Elena Urioste on self-love in a time of coronavirusSaturday, 21 March 2020
In my second year as a violin student at the Curtis Institute, my right arm started going numb from my elbow to my fingertips on a fairly regular basis. It was rather like how your limbs feel right before they fall asleep: not full-on pins and needles, but a dull, hot emptiness, like there was no blood to keep that piece of me alive and vibrant. Read more... |
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