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They used to say of opera: “It’s over when the fat lady sings.” (Incomprehensible stabbings; foreign lingo; over-the-top hammy acting…) Things have to be larger than life though. Otherwise, why are these people singing and not…

“All is lightness and grace!” wrote an early commentator on Mozart’s great comedy “The Marriage of Figaro”. And yet, in that long tale of love, aristocratic entitlement, family ties and strife, as in all of Mozart,…

“Ineluctably the Festivals arise”, to misquote Rainer Maria Rilke. And, as summer approaches, thank God for them! In the world of classical music they are vital. But they now appear, perhaps, as in a shadow of…

Franz Schubert was accused, in his sonata ans symphonies, of “heavenly length”. When Wagner wrote his lengthy operas, civil servants and theatre devotees, clutching their subscriptions, pulled down the blinds and left work at 5 as…

All of music, it seems, is available at a click. How can composers create meaning
and expression in a digital world?

Every young musician needs role models – even composers – where are they now??? Every parent should read this!