April 1951 carnegie hall witnesses a top pianist’s fatal final concerto

In mid-October 1871, a message was cabled from New York City to Franz Liszt in Europe. In itself, this was nothing unusual. Nearing 60 years old, the Hungarian composer and pianist had long been a glo

I enjoyed reading Francesco Piemontesi’s Concert Heaven, Concert Hell interview (September) about his ‘best’ and ‘worst’ performance... in the semi-final of the Elisabeth Competition in 2007! In fact,

COMPILED & WRITTEN BY PAUL RILEY London Sinfonietta The Story Garden, King’s Cross, London, 14 September londonsinfonietta.org.uk The UK’s leading contemporary music ensemble has green fingers! Who kn

No matter how famous a composer is in their lifetime, their fate is decided after they die. Will their style fall quickly out of fashion? Was enough of their music published to make it possible to per

Premières Symphonies Works by Bizet, Gounod and Saint-Saëns Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/Kazuki Yamada Alpha Classics ALPHA1149 89:27 mins (2CD) The most familiar of these three classically

Edge of the Storm Works by Bacewicz, Britten and Weinberg Telegraph Quartet Azica Records ACD-71381 74:08 mins The turbulent, destabilising and demoralising impact of the Second World War hovers uneas