Classical Music >>

After a long and distinguished career, the “doyen of British cellists” is calling it quits....

A delightfully chaotic co-production transports Gogol's comedic masterpiece to the modern day....

Crowd-pleasing confection delights audience's taste but its flavours lack complexity...

Strauss, Berlioz, Elgar and Grainger feature as Sir Andrew Davis takes his Aussie band on the road....

After more than 30 years away, the LSO returns to Oz this November....

The Bell Song from Delibes' opera, Lakme, has been frequenting my operatic playlist as of late.  It's a terrific aria that challenges the soprano's vocal range and technique.   Here's one of my favorite Youtube videos of Dame Joan Sutherland owning this aria - she makes it seem so easy.   Learn the lyrics of the Bell Song while you watch! ...

Are you the very model of a modern major-general?  I know I'm not!  I can't even get through these tongue-twisting lyrics with the words in front of me.   Watch this superb performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's famous comedic aria, I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General, and follow along with the Modern Major-General lyrics . ...

Published in 1725, in a set of twelve concerto's entitled  Il cement dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Test of Harmony and Invention), each concerto is in the distinct form of fast-slow-fast movements. Vivaldi wrote the individual Sonnets to go along with each movement of the Four Seasons. What's amazing is how accurately he musically portrays each Sonnet without losing the overall...

Because of its content, the work is often performed during Advent and Epiphany, when the Catholic church ponders and meditates on the mysteries of Blessed Mary and her virgin birth.  I find myself listening to it throughout the year when I need a bit of peace and calm.   Learn the lyrics to "Alma Redemptoris Mater" (with a link to the recording inside). ...

Antonio Vivaldi was a prolific baroque period composer best known for his famous program music, The Four Seasons. Not only was he a composer, he also served as a Catholic priest and was virtuosic violin player.   Learn more about the life of Antonio Vivaldi . ...

In an extract from her memoir, the ABC's Emma Ayres recounts her cycle ride from England to Hong Kong....

The Ukrainian-born pianist revived her stalled career by uploading videos of herself to YouTube. After millions clicked, she landed a record deal. Her new album features film music by Michael Nyman....

From Queen Victoria's funeral to a tour of Maria Callas' Paris apartment, a British newsreel archive has just uploaded 85,000 historic films to YouTube. Watch a few of our favorite music clips....

English bass-baritone John Shirley-Quirk died in April 2014, aged eighty-two ...

Award-winning English composer Patric Standford died in April 2014, aged seventy-five ...

Conductor Robert Spano leads the orchestra and chorus in Benjamin Britten's War Requiem , music written for the 1962 rededication of the cathedral in Coventry, England, destroyed in a 1940 air raid....

A newly reissued set of symphonies from the decades after World War II recovers a gifted yet neglected composer, Vadim Salmanov. These live recordings burn with intensity and sorrow....

Take a tour of the MacArthur genius's home in Harlem, including a look at his Steinway, favorite books and percussion instruments from India....

British conductor Brian Priestman died in April 2014, aged eighty-seven ...

French composer Jacques Castérède died in April 2014, aged eighty-seven ...