Get in tune

Always wanted to unleash your inner musician? Writer Joel Snape thought he’d left it too late until he started playing around on the piano and found it was just the note he needed

Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon & Schuster 978-1-398-53240-3 256pp (hb) £30 This is a fascinating compendium of classical curiosities, thoroughly researched and charmingly written by Edward Brooke-Hitchi

Three women share their stories of festive singing

Sun Triptych Maxim Rysanov, Dasol Kim, Roman Mints et al; BBC Concert Orchestra/ Dobrinka Tabakova ECM 4878558 64:61 mins This is the second ECM disc to feature the extremely accessible music of Bulga

Works by Gesualdo & composers of Naples Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini; Monica Piccinini (soprano); Maria Chiara Gallo (mezzo) et al Naïve OP8677 62:13 mins Don’t be deceived – Carlo Gesualdo

My career began in Torquay, in the corner of a hotel dining room. I was a little girl, barely tall enough to reach the keys, but there was a battered old piano sitting there, and I was obsessed. Every