Featured Today 
CD Spotlight. A Real Melange - Music for wind quintet, enjoyed by Geoff Pearce. 'The members of Ventus Machina enjoy this music, as is evident from their well-balanced and joyous playing.'
Anniversaries: Ernst Bacon; Joel Hastings
Today's concerts: Puccini: Madama Butterfly; Copenhagen, DK; Thomas Ashwell: Missa Ave Maria and a Tudor garland for Mary; London, UK
Festivals, competitions and masterclasses: Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (5 May-13 July); Tuscany, IT; Bergen International Festival (23 May-6 June); Bergen, NO; Istanbul International Music Festival (23 May-12 June); Istanbul, TR; Garsington Opera (11 April-22 July); Buckinghamshire, UK; English Music Festival (25-28 May 2018); Oxfordshire, UK; Glyndebourne (19 May-26 August); East Sussex, UK; Prague Spring Festival (12 May-3 June); Prague, CZ; Swaledale Festival (26 May-9 June); North Yorkshire, UK; San Francisco Opera Ring Festival (26 April-1 July); California, US
Recent Articles
Ensemble. Aural Perspective - A visit from Osnabrück by the Marienkantorei, for Elgar, Rheinberger and Mendelssohn, heard by Mike Wheeler
Ensemble. An Odd Couple - A Hindemith and Mascagni double bill in Cagliari, heard by Giuseppe Pennisi
Classical music news - Dieter Schnebel (1930-2018); more ...
CD Spotlight. On Buoyant Form - Orchestral music by Andrew Downes, heard by Roderic Dunnett. '... varied, innovative, involving and absorbing.'
Hugely Talented - Haydn and Tchaikovsky Sonatas from Russian pianist Roman Kosyakov, heard by Mike Wheeler
CD Spotlight. Absolutely Superb - Early music from Northern Europe, highly recommended by Geoff Pearce. 'These are truly great performances of less familiar music, and all musicians featured are of the finest quality.'
Classical music news - Glenn Branca (1948-2018); Jonathan Sternberg (1919-2018); more ...
CD Spotlight. Absolutely unmissable - Prokofiev's 'Ivan the Terrible', recommended by Gerald Fenech. '... a blockbuster of an issue which should delight both film score collectors and Prokofiev admirers in equal measure.'
Ensemble. Long Overdue - Giuseppe Pennisi was in the audience for the first performance in Rome of Benjamin Britten's 'Billy Budd'
Somewhat Delayed Reviews - Charming, Beautiful and Cunning - Sentimental songs performed by Vivian Montgomery and Pamela Dellal, heard by Endre Anaru
Ensemble. Stravinskian Credentials - Rossini, Poulenc and Saint-Saëns from Nottingham Harmonic Choir and the Hallé Orchestra, heard by Mike Wheeler
Ensemble. Born Again - Hindemith's 'Cardillac' at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi
Ensemble. Never a Dull Moment - Jules Masssenet's 'Cendrillon', live in high definition from New York Metropolitan Opera, impresses Maria Nockin
Ensemble. Puppyish Ebullience - Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Dushkin, Bob Marley, Coleridge-Taylor and Monti from the Kanneh-Mason Trio, heard by Mike Wheeler
Ask Alice - On teaching adult cello students, with Classical Music Agony Aunt Alice McVeigh
Opera versus Mafia - Giuseppe Pennisi talks to Francesco Giambrone, Superindent of Teatro Massimo di Palermo
Classical music news - Roman Toi (1916-2018); more ...
CD Spotlight. Stunningly Performed - Trios by Schumann, Smit, Mozart and Françaix, recommended by Geoff Pearce. 'Music is in fine hands for the future with young artists of this calibre.'
CD Spotlight. Freshness and Enthusiasm - Early music by Richard Strauss impresses Gerald Fenech. '... full of sunny and exuberant musical tone painting which gives a huge uplift in spirits ...'
CD Spotlight. Remarkable Sensitivity - Angela Brownridge plays Debussy Préludes, impressing Anett Fodor. '... her inexhaustible source of timbre, the delicate style and use of both pedals, as well as her excellent piano technique demand listeners' full attention.'
Classical music news - Wanda Wiłkomirska (1929-2018); Herman Krebbers (1923-2018); more ...
Vigorously Rhetorical - A piano recital by Martin James Bartlett, heard by Mike Wheeler
Ensemble. Is 'Carmen' for Children? - Giuseppe Pennisi attends a special Opera Domani performance
Boldly Presented - Martin Cousin's piano recital for Derby Chamber Music, heard by Mike Wheeler
Classical music news - Power and Agility - May 2018 Newsletter (PDF, 586kb); Hereford to Rome; more ...
Classical music news - Huguette Tourangeau (1940-2018); Graciela Agudelo (1945-2018); more ...
Classical music news - Classical music festivals and summer schools around the world; more ...
CD Spotlight. Peace and Praise - Choral music from Queens College New York, heard by Gerald Fenech. '... beautifully performed, sumptuously recorded ...'
Ensemble. Engagingly Springy - The European Union Chamber Orchestra in Nottingham impresses Mike Wheeler
CD Spotlight. Beautiful Writing - Music by Kara Karayev, heard by Geoff Pearce. '... I think this composer will become more widely known - he certainly deserves to be, if these two quite contrasting and original works are anything to go by.'
