A titan without ego

On the morning of 15 November 2007, Morten Lauridsen stepped onto a podium in the East Room of the White House to receive the National Medal of Arts from president George W Bush. He was 64 at the time

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

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

Songs of Fate Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo-soprano), Gürzenich-Orchester Köln/Jordan de Souza Myrios Classics MYR036 55:28 mins The booklet accompanying this remarkable release begins with a short interv

Zémide*; Pygmalion** Ema Nikolovska, Virginie Thomas et al; A Nocte Temporis, Chœur de Chambre de Namur/ Reinoud Van Mechelen Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS174 80:10 mins Readers may be grateful

(conductor) USSR RTV Symphony Orchestra Melodiya RCID24689058 Numerous recordings by the good and the great ensure that the bar is set extremely high here, and among the many persuasive readings are t