Classical Features
'We must channel the energy and pain that is being expressed right now': Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE on time for action on diversity in classical musicTuesday, 23 June 2020
The worldwide reaction to the horrific murder of George Floyd via the renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement is not a minority issue. It concerns people of all ethnicities, education and economic backgrounds who want a better, fairer world. Read more...
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The power of resilience: flautist Noemi Gyori on positive ways to face adversityTuesday, 16 June 2020
The magnitude of challenges that the entire classical music industry is facing due to the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented. In the twinkling of an eye, cultural life became suspended. Many of us, mostly freelancers and entrepreneurs, smaller organizations, but even employees of large orchestras across the world are now dealing with stark financial and psychological pressure. Read more... |
'This experience has revealed just how much I love music': pianist Paul Lewis on life in lockdownTuesday, 09 June 2020
As an instrumentalist, you can sit down and play music and escape from the stress. It’s a privilege to be able to do something that takes you to a different place – you’re removed from everything that’s happening. Read more... |
The music of isolation: conductor Ian Page on 18th century 'Sturm und Drang'Saturday, 06 June 2020
My latest recording with The Mozartists is the first in a seven-volume series [reviewed by Graham Rickson in his Classical CDs Weekly column] exploring the so-called “Sturm und Drang” (literally translated, “storm and stress”) movement that swept through music and other art forms between the early 1760s and the early 1780s... Read more... |
First Person: Gabriel Prokofiev on 14 years of his Concerto for Turntables and OrchestraTuesday, 02 June 2020
For most people a turntable, or record player is used to play back old vinyls bought from a market or second hand store, or perhaps a carefully packaged reissue of a classic album. We gently place the needle at the beginning of the record and are careful not to scratch the vinyl when we turn it over. But for a turntablist or DJ it is a musical instrument, and they handle it with much greater confidence and familiarity. Read more... |
Tuning the focus inward: violinist Esther Yoo on performers facing their demons in a crisisWednesday, 27 May 2020
COVID-19 hurls the artist into the unknown. June is the time of year where I, like many, look back on everything I have accomplished over the last two quarters and look forward to my plans and goals for the next six months. As my birthday happens to fall in mid June, it’s a particularly opportune moment for me to think about my personal timeline and envision how I want to commence a new year. Read more... |
'Artists' online rivalry feels stronger': pianist Joseph Moog on the difficulties of performing in lockdownSaturday, 23 May 2020
It can be found in any contract. Both artists, as well as promoters, are aware of it, but it used to be an exception so rare that only a few have ever experienced it: the clause of "force majeure". Now it is sadly commonplace in the world of the performing arts. Read more... |
'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... |
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