In the beginning…

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

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,

‘T is the season of jump-scares and of things going bump in the night, when you get to watch as much as you dare of your favourite slasher film, as Michael Myers puts on his mask once again in Hallowe

Echoes of Exile Works by Bartók, Ben-Haim, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Zimmermann Sueye Park (violin) BIS BIS-2332 63:06 mins Turbulence from the Second World War impacts most of the composers on this album. Th

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

Musical inspiration doesn’t come out of thin air, and behind every hit single there’s some form of creative stimulus. Ingrained since childhood and entwined in our cultural fabric, classical music has