Smooth operator

Works by Saariaho and Shostakovich Dudok Quartet Amsterdam Rubicon RCD1218 59:41 mins Carrying a dedication to ‘those who have departed’, Kaija Saariaho’s Terra Memoria for string quartet, composed in

Sun Triptych Maxim Rysanov, Dasol Kim, Roman Mints et al; BBC Concert Orchestra/ Dobrinka Tabakova ECM 4878558 64:61 mins This is the second ECM disc to feature the extremely accessible music of Bulga

Works by Bach arr. for clarinet Martin Fröst (clarinet); Jonas Nordberg (lute) et al Sony Classical 19802814742 41:45 mins The album B.A.C.H. from Swedish clarinettist and conductor Martin Fröst conti

Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon & Schuster 978-1-398-53240-3 256pp (hb) £30 This is a fascinating compendium of classical curiosities, thoroughly researched and charmingly written by Edward Brooke-Hitchi

Glasgow, 1942. The Carl Rosa Opera Company was in town to perform Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Tickets had been snapped up by local people – including many who didn’t really know what an opera was. The

I was shocked in a London hostelry recently to discover that our once-proud nation has been reduced to forming an orderly queue for drinks at the pub bar. It hasn’t happened in my local yet, and all i