Hidden treasures

Maurice Ravel has been an enduring part of my world, both as a performer and teacher. As a little girl I played the Mouvement de menuet from his Sonatine at a piano competition, which the renowned pia

Male readers may want to look away now, or at least cross their legs. We are, you see, going to begin by explaining how to make a castrato. It’s an uncomfortable subject, for sure, so if you’re of a n

Cublai, gran kan de’ Tartari Mirco Palazzi, Marie Lys et al; Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset Aparté AP379 159 mins (2CD) A rival to Mozart – and in many ways enjoying a more successful internat

Opera: The Queen of Spades/L’elisir d’amore Garsington ...

Symphony No. 5; Swanwhite Suite etc Christian Tetzlaff (violin); Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon Ondine ODE 1468-2 77:16 mins One of the features of Finland’s impressive music educati

There comes a point in life for most of us when we say, enough. We say goodbye to responsibilities that had begun to feel more like obligations, and we either seek new challenges, or find joy in what