Track 6 alfredo casella (1883-1947) siciliana, no 6 from 11 pezzi infantili op 35 intermediate

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

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

Since winning the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2016, Clare Hammond has established herself as one of Britain’s most adventurous pianists. A graduate of Cambridge University and t

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

‘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

Classical music has a problem with perfection. You’d have thought the most important job of any professional musician was learning, playing and repeating the notes composers wrote down so often that t