Vive la révolution!

Is there a special sorcery in Seoul? Cunning creativity in Canada? Preternatural pizzazz in Paris? Oh, why do so many great pianists come from this or that country? We even have some in Britain; is th

Jan Smaczny is enthralled by Isabelle Faust’s unique approach to the demanding material of Bach’s little-known violin works JS Bach Sonatas for Violin and Continuo Isabelle Faust (violin); Kristin von

‘What Americans call safe music bores me,’ declared Michel Legrand in a 2005 interview, in which he reflected on the high profile he had achieved as one of the world’s leading film composers. ‘If you’

Music cannot work a magic spell. It can, however, do wonderful things. In recent issues of BBC Music Magazine, we have explored the benefits to mental health of listening and playing music, not least

In 1984, a truncated version of Maurice Ravel’s orchestral piece Boléro was used to accompany a routine by British ice-dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. The p

The Exposition Universelle, held in Paris in 1889 and attracting 30 million visitors during the six months it was open, has bequeathed us the Eiffel Tower in the Champ de Mars where the exhibition too