Track 4 cécile chaminade (1857-1944) prélude from album des enfants op 123 no 1 intermediate

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

Let’s get the inevitable out of the way: Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is one of the most popular pieces in history, and it also made David Lean’s 1945 Brief Encounter into the movie we know and

However highbrow we think we are, we’ve all been guilty of it – that is, sitting in a concert or opera and waiting impatiently for ‘the famous bit’. In some instances, that well-known moment may be ju

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

PETROC TRELAWNY records how trains and the railway have inspired classical works through the years

Not many successful breakaways involve almost 5,000m of climbing over 324km, but that’s exactly what Napoleon Bonaparte pulled off in just six days in the spring of 1815. After escaping from exile on