Petite... but a lot of pluck

Musical instruments have power, simply as things. They speak. They generate emotion. They tell stories about life, death, happiness and sadness – and about the past, which they can resurrect with curi

It’s the only question about music that really matters, even if it draws wildly different answers: can music change our lives? Yes, it can! It brings everything from social cohesion to harmony between

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

Trumpeter Alison Balsom has revealed that her recent appearance at the 2025 Last Night of the Proms was her final public performance. During an interview for BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life shortly b

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

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