The summer of 1791 was an exceptionally busy period, even by Mozart’s habitually hardworking standards. He was, to begin with, composing a new opera, Die Zauberflöte (‘The Magic Flute’). Then, in June

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

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Joseph Haydn looked every bit the European celebrity on the night of 4 May 1795. Newly opened in 1791 after a fire, the King’s Theatre glowed in the brilliant flicker of candle chandeliers. At the fro

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

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