Life in the dead season

Tense, carnal, lyrical: a new opera by Rebecca Saunders

‘I’ve never been a particularly esoteric person,’ Nicola Benedetti tells me as we sit down to talk following the press launch of her third Edinburgh Festival. And yet, as she explains the theme of thi

Kafka Fragments Susan Narucki (soprano), Curtis Macomber (violin) Avie AV2760 54:30 mins In the July issue we praised pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s inspired performance of György Kurtág’s Játékok mi

MY PICK OF THE PROMS GEORGIA MANN ...

shouting forever into the receiver Anne Denholm (harp), Louise McMonagle (cello), Jonathan Morton (violin) et al NMC NMC D285 61:56 mins Tackling social themes and reckoning with history is part of wh

The BBC Proms changed the face of classical music when ‘the people’s festival’ was launched in 1895. The perennially popular event features some of the nation’s favourite tunes from composers inspired by the countryside of the British Isles. Here Kitty Corrigan selects her top ten