The sound of centuries past

I’m in Cremona in what seems to be a shop – and indeed was a shop until not long ago, selling electrical appliances. But now it serves a higher purpose, lovingly restored to how it may have been durin

How Chaucer reshaped English poetry

shouting forever into the receiver Anne Denholm (harp), Louise McMonagle (cello), Jonathan Morton (violin) et al NMC NMC D285 61:56 mins Tackling social themes and reckoning with history is part of wh

‘I’ve never been a particularly esoteric person,’ Nicola Benedetti tells me as we sit down to talk following the press launch of her third Edinburgh Festival. And yet, as she explains the theme of thi

The playful, melancholic genius of Erik Satie

The BBC Proms changed the face of classical music when ‘the people’s festival’ was launched in 1895. The perennially popular event features some of the nation’s favourite tunes from composers inspired by the countryside of the British Isles. Here Kitty Corrigan selects her top ten