Orchestral arrangement

Lola Salem on an organisation showing the tone-deaf, identity politics-obsessed Arts Council that a modest grant wisely placed goes a long way

Harmonies in mathematics

It remains a mystery: not why Alfred Brendel took a tortoise on a lead to a concert at the Musikverein in Vienna in the 1950s – although that is a fact of his life that ought to be better known – but

Sonatas Nos 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; Sonata violino solo representativa in A major Rachel Podger (violin); Brecon Baroque Channel Classics CCS48525 70:08 mins No Arts Council funding was available to rescue

François Leleux is a French oboist and conductor who, at 18, became principal oboe at the Paris Opera. Since then, he has performed with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Budapest Festival

When we think of all things Italian, in general terms, what do we think of? And how does that translate into music? As a musician, one might think of the heightened emotions of the Romantic era – spec