Features & Interviews
‘The Healing Power of Music’: composer Nigel Hess on great-aunt Myra’s wartime concerts
Monday, 01 March 2021
It has been well-documented over the last few months that there has been an upsurge in listener numbers for many radio stations offering classical music – notably BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Scala Radio – and, during these unprecedented times it comes as no surprise to discover that so many people (of all ages) are finding sol
Britney Spears (1998-present): The Video Special
Monday, 22 February 2021
Interest in Britney Spears has not waned.
Disc of the Day 10th Anniversary: the level...
Friday, 19 February 2021
Theartsdesk is a labour of love. Bloody-mindedly run as a co-operative of journalists from the beginning, our obsession with maintaining a daily-...
Reviewing music off-piste: reflections on working...
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Writing for theartsdesk offers a freedom that I‘ve never experienced before. Encouraged by the much-missed Sue Steward and by Peter Culshaw, two of...
Classical musicians on life after Brexit - 4:...
Thursday, 11 February 2021
Forget the pandemic, it's Brexit which could ring the death knell for artists who are currently hoarse from begging to be taken seriously as a...
Classical musicians on life after Brexit - 3: violinist Sara Deborah Struntz-Timossi
Another previously free-ranging player adds her voice to individual stories featured here |
Classical musicians on life after Brexit - 2: violinist Victoria Sayles
First sequel to pianist Sophia Rahman's assembly of musical voices on the visa situation |
'The total confusion about post-Brexit rules adds to the distress': classical musicians speak out
Ten players and administrators on the fallout in government restrictions to EU touring |
'Having to establish a real conversation with the audience is a good challenge': Raffaello Morales on a possible musical future
Pioneer of a rare 2020 success story, the Fidelio Orchestra Cafe, on adapting to change |
Book extract: Fat by Hanne Blank
The multiple personalities of a public enemy, sexual fetish and essential organ |
Dame Fanny Waterman (1920-2020) - some recollections, with love and affection
The Leeds International Piano Competition's Artstic Director remembers its founder |
First Person: conductor Johannes Vogel on Beethoven’s Ninth as re-orchestrated by Mahler
The importance of celebrating the anniversary year’s end with a bang |
First Person(s): soprano Susan Bullock and baritone William Dazeley on filming Britten’s Owen Wingrave
Grange Park Opera makes the most of Covid restrictions by producing a TV opera |
Filmmaker Frank Marshall: 'People don’t understand what geniuses The Bee Gees were'
Director of the new Bee Gees documentary discusses the brothers' legacy in music |
Not-quite-solitude on the 34th floor: violinist Maxine Kwok on the short film 'Rising'
The LSO player relates her lockdown experience in the City of London she loves so much |
First Person: Avi Avital on 'Art of the Mandolin'
Master of an exquisite instrument turns to works written specifically for it |
‘Our whole industry is supported by vulnerable freelance creators': Chen Reiss on the artist in a time of Coronavirus
The soprano, now on screen in the Royal Opera 'Ariodante', on recognition for performers |
First Person: Paul Bullock on making BBC Young Jazz Musician 2020
The BBC Young Musician executive editor on the challenges of making the competition work for TV in lockdown |
Book extract: Nativity by Jean Frémon, with drawings by Louise Bourgeois
Reckoning with the question of how to represent Christ |
First Person: horn player Alec Frank-Gemmill on authenticity and enlightenment in lockdown
Treading a fine line in Brahms between historical evidence and creative freedom |
First Person: Jessica Duchen on writing about Beethoven's Immortal Beloved
Why her novel 'Immortal' became more seismic, and more relevant, than she expected |
'Josquin has defined our career': The Tallis Scholars’ Peter Phillips on the end of a major recording project
Celebrating an epic on the eve of the Renaissance Mass master’s 500th anniversary |
First Person: Cellist Alban Gerhardt on why concert-hall life must go on
The return to lockdown of German musical institutions must not happen here |
Filmmaker Bassam Tariq: 'Great cinema doesn't need to be perfect - embrace the imperfections'
Director of 'Mogul Mowgli' discusses taking risks, and the differences between the British- and American-Asian experience |
First Person: harpsichordist Chad Kelly on reimagining Bach's Goldberg Variations
The background to what promises to be a vibrant new performance by Brecon Baroque |
The Secret History of My Library: Essay by Daniel Saldaña París
The eminent Mexican novelist on books and their ghosts |
First Person: composer Brian Elias on the Music@Malling Festival's retrospective of his works
Fifty years of vibrantly consistent music celebrated in rural Kent |
First Person: tenor Nicky Spence on working with Blackheath locals on screen Stravinsky
'The Rake's Progress' distilled and introduced by its star and community opera patron |
Book extract: Snake by Erica Wright
Short essays on a slippery object of fear, fascination and misunderstanding |
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