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Richard Strauss

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Runnicles conducts domestic drama with punch

27.08.09

Donald Runnicles's performance with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra brought out so much detail that you had to forget the plot.... more

Music and Mussolini

05.08.09

With three pieces by Ottorino Respighi, the Italian dictator’s favourite composer, receiving their Proms premieres, William Ward examines the cultural legacy of fascism.... more

Musicians dance to the Nazis’ tune in Taking Sides

28.05.09

Michael Pennington shines in Taking Sides and Collaboration - sophisticated dramas from Ronald Harwood.... more

Pick of the Proms - from Bollywood to Barenboim

26.05.09

No other festival offers so much for so little money. Here is a round-up of the concerts not to be missed as part of this year's Proms festival.... more

Time to face the Nazi music

22.04.09

Two plays by Ronald Harwood re-examine the moral responsibility of the musicians who danced to Hitler’s tune... more

A handle on Haydn

18.02.09

To kick off a year of celebration devoted to the prolific composer, his complete works have just been released in a 150-CD box set. With so much music to choose from, where do you start?... more

The face of modern opera

14.01.09

The first big event in London’s music calendar is the UK premiere of Die tote Stadt, Korngold’s 1920 work that finally brought opera into the real world... more

The Miller’s tale revisited

07.01.09

For a decade the director has complained that no one wanted him in London. Now Jonathan Miller is back at ENO — with a radical new production of La Bohčme inspired by Brassaď... more

A Little Night Music is exceptionally ravishing

04.12.08

Trevor Nunn's dream-struck, elegantly scaled-down production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music is a serious delight.... more

To save the day, Gordon, you have to tax the rich

25.11.08

During the heady days of the boom, I used to opine regularly that the National Lottery was a tax on stupidity, the odds of winning the jackpot being so infinitesimal... more

Anyone for café culture?

08.10.08

A new exhibition celebrates the Viennese coffee houses where Mahler, Strauss and Schnitzler would exchange ideas. If only there were a modern London equivalent... more

Strauss and stress in collaboration

30.07.08

It's a topic so ripe with dramatic weight that it's no wonder Ronald Harwood has returned to the theme of collaboration with the Nazis in Collaboration.... more

Steamy sex in Street Scene

18.07.08

There is nothing quite like Street Scene's fascinating hybrid of opera and Broadway musical, says Nicholas de Jongh. ... more

Bravo! Fatgirl slim sings at last for Covent Garden crowd

17.06.08

She was the fat lady who was not allowed to sing in a Covent Garden spat that split the world of opera...... more

The history play man

03.06.08

Michael Frayn again delves into the past for his new play, Afterlife, about the now obscure theatre director Max Reinhardt.... more

ENO are almost triumphant

30.05.08

Der Rosenkavalier is a comedy of a boy whose voice has not yet broken but whose busy libido has been awakened by a woman old enough to be his mother.... more

Playing it for easy laughs

23.05.08

Too much of Der Rosenkavalier is mere bustle and bluster and without sumptuous singing, the opera feels coarse and slight. ... more

Lie back and think of the Balkans

28.04.08

The Merry Widow has a lively cast, with strong chorus and choreography. The weakest link, unusually, is the orchestra, says Fiona Maddocks.... more

Playing into spring

07.04.08

The National Youth Orchestra's rendition of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring seemed to jolt the audience to life and the gifted teenageres proved their worth at the Barbican Hall concert.... more

A head-turning Salome but dance is out of step

22.02.08

David McVicar's new production of Richard Strauss's Salome is an operatic masterpiece but not, you might say, to all tastes.... more

Pop goes 2007 - music review of the year

21.12.07

From Mika to Mozart, our music critics present their guide to a vintage year with a look back at the best albums.... more

No let up with Gergiev

23.11.07

Mahler's Sixth Symphony is the kind of intense score to which Valery Gergiev responds best, with dangerous, illuminating results.... more

Bid to banish our prejudices about Elgar

08.11.07

Elgar was unembarrassed to wear his heart on his sleeve and, in that respect, this Englishmen was decidedly European. It's time we learnt, says Fiona Maddocks. ... more

'It was shockingly, gloriously awful'

22.08.07

As Michael Ball prepares for his first Prom, he reveals the full story of his role in English National Opera's biggest critical flop in years.... more

Predictable programme but lucid playing

17.05.07

Classical performers get criticised for predictable programming, but sometimes it makes absolute sense, as with pianist Imogen Cooper's assembly of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert.... more

Hytner's back in an epic season at Covent Garden

04.04.07

Nicholas Hytner is to return to the Royal Opera House after a 20 year absence, as the Royal Opera House annouces an epic 2007/08 season.... more

Magnificent Mahler

11.01.07

The Dresden Staatskapelle turned up the heat for Mahler Nine, producing an edgy - but dramatic and touching - performance, says Barry Millington.... more

Chopin becomes pure gold

31.08.06

Chinese pianist Lang Lang brought a touch of magic to Chopin's Piano concerto No 1 in E minor at the Proms. But what was to follow, says Barry Millington, was utterly mesmerising.... more