Kurtág’s life’s work is in the safest of hands

‘I was born twice,’ said the great Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin. ‘In Kazan I opened my eyes to life, and in Tbilisi to music.’ What is it about music and the Georgians? Some members of that Caucasian

Jonathan Gaisman is a KC and a writer on cultural topics

Rachmaninov himself at the piano, recorded in 1929, is bound to remain a benchmark, even after nearly a century. Like many performers at the start of the recording era, Rachmaninov was microphone-shy

At a glance, the young pianist appears frozen in time, a still portrait quite at odds with the dancing carnival of sound that fills the KKL Luzern. The months pass by, and February’s ebullience bows t

‘Dear Mr Grieg: I am writing to you in connection with a plan that I propose to implement, and in which I wish to invite your participation.’ The tone is impeccably formal and business-like, but the l

On one level he seems so direct, so simple, so uncomplicatedly appealing. Schubert could turn on heart-lifting melody with the same ease that most of us would turn on a tap. Often he seems happy just