Music
Worshipping Bach
When I was first learning about classical music, 50 years ago, the scene was more streamlined than it is now.…
I could be dead soon. What should I listen to?
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
Running out of time
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
Running out of time
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
One man’s guilty pleasure is another’s palpable greatness
The film critic Anne Billson wrote a typically pugnacious piece recently about the phrase ‘guilty pleasures’, which has spread like…
Not guilty
The film critic Anne Billson wrote a typically pugnacious piece recently about the phrase ‘guilty pleasures’, which has spread like…
Not guilty
The film critic Anne Billson wrote a typically pugnacious piece recently about the phrase ‘guilty pleasures’, which has spread like…
British choirs can’t match up to those from abroad
To curate a festival these days is to put oneself in the firing line. There is every chance that all…
Perfect harmony
To curate a festival these days is to put oneself in the firing line. There is every chance that all…
Perfect harmony
To curate a festival these days is to put oneself in the firing line. There is every chance that all…
In the mood for Parsifal, my Passiontide fare
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Power of ritual
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Power of ritual
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Pop has become a conservative art form and an old man’s game
It is coming to something when relatively young pop stars die not of drugs or misadventure but, essentially, of old…
Old man’s game
It is coming to something when relatively young pop stars die not of drugs or misadventure but, essentially, of old…
Old man’s game
It is coming to something when relatively young pop stars die not of drugs or misadventure but, essentially, of old…
The mean, bullying maestro is extinct – or should be
W.H.Auden once wrote: ‘Real artists are not nice people. All their best feelings go into their work and life has…
Bad behaviour
W.H.Auden once wrote: ‘Real artists are not nice people. All their best feelings go into their work and life has…
Bad behaviour
W.H.Auden once wrote: ‘Real artists are not nice people. All their best feelings go into their work and life has…
Menuhin is the world’s toughest violin competition. Why is it packed with Asians, and no Brits?
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
Addicted to Vole
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
