The theatre that released a queen

Marie Antoinette’s passion for furniture and genius for bagatelles, however evanescent their purpose, filled the French royal palaces with beauty and charm, as Matthew Dennison reveals

This autumn, the V&A unveils a captivating exhibition dedicated to Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated French queen whose brief yet eventful life continues to bewitch audiences and fuel the creative imagination. Marie-Claire Chappet traces her enduring influence on culture and fashion

With a strength of character that belied her fragile looks, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun pushed the boundaries of royal portraiture and, after the French Revolution, challenged the loss of female influence via every frill and fold in her work

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

Purcell Dido and Aeneas Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, Fatma Said et al; Il Pomo d’Oro/ Maxim Emelyanychev Erato 2173228488 52:43 mins It’s been a mystery why Joyce DiDonato appeared to have bypassed

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