classical music & opera
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Small retailers everywhere are struggling to compete with online competition. But one classical music store in north London is surviving - and even thriving
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It’s 225 years since Mozart’s death, and there’s a giant CD collection to mark it featuring many of the biggest names in classical music. We asked some of them to reveal which of his works they love best
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Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Abba, Glass and the Legend of Zelda – the conductor tells us about the music and musicians who inspire him
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Electric atmosphere as Valery Gergiev conducts Funeral Song at Maryinsky concert hall in St Petersburg
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Thibault Noally (violin), Les Accents
(Aparte)
facing the music
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The cellist on growing up with Schubert and Schumann, and the fascination of the theremin
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From Keith Jarrett’s new musical grammar to John Cage’s iconoclasm via Bach and Busoni, the composer and pianist tells us what inspires him
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weekly from the archive
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9 March 1971: Meirion Bowen on the scholar, virtuosic musician and crumhorn whizzkid at the forefront of the period-instrument movement, who died tragically young 40 years ago
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From the archive, 23 April 1827: Following the death of Beethoven, the Observer publishes a personal account of the eccentric and prodigiously talented composer
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From the archive, 11 August 1876: The Guardian reports from the very first Bayreuth Wagner festival, presided over by the composer himself.
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Comment A subsidised critic is the thin end of a dangerous wedge
Michael BillingtonThe Boston Globe’s initiative to fund a classical music critic by nonprofit groups raises troubling questions for arts critics on both sides of the Atlantic -
Arguments in favour left many unconvinced, and with his Barbican concerts Simon Rattle has already showed the difference he can make to a venue’s sound
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you may have missed
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William Kentridge and conductor Mark Wigglesworth underplay the humour as Brenda Rae proves a tireless, enigmatic heart to a production awash with projected imagery
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This young Greek conductor’s recordings of Mozart operas have redefined music and changed my life with their profound vision, energy and face-punching force
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The choirmaster who used to sell ice creams on Bournemouth beach is angling for his next Christmas No 1 – and teaching Team GB how to sing the National Anthem properly
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Photographer Teri Pengilly was given exclusive access to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday to watch preparations for the biggest night in classical music’s calendar
guides
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Tom Service's survey of the 50 symphonies that changed classical music
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Our series ends in Berlin, the classical music lover’s dream destination, with Berg, Busoni, Bowie and Bernstein.
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Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene
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