Classical music & opera
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As the €866m Elbphilharmonie celebrates its fifth anniversary, what could have been a costly mistake has become a symbol of the German city. London, take note -
4 out of 5 stars.
The Norwegian singer was paired with her compatriot for this magnificent and thoughtful recital of songs by Wagner, Strauss and Grieg
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5 out of 5 stars.
Album of the week Brahms: Complete Songs, Vol 1 – Opp 32, 43, 86 and 105 – masterful and revelatory
5 out of 5 stars.Tenor Christoph Prégardien gives an intelligent and perfectly weighted performance with pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr -
A new digital station plays only music written by women. Stephen Moss finds treasures as well as tedium, but wishes Scala’s classical channel could be bolder -
Born in Lagos and raised in the US, she swapped medical training for arias – and has learned to embrace the pressure of being a leading voice
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4 out of 5 stars.
The week in classical: LSO/Rattle; Gianni Schicchi – review
4 out of 5 stars. -
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Williams and Roger Vignoles are on exquisite form on Mirages. Plus a fitting testament to the late, great film composer -
3 out of 5 stars.
The Complete Music of Anton Webern review – hugely influential recordings of jewel-like works
3 out of 5 stars.Webern’s music was revolutionary, but did not become widely accessible until Craft directed this series of recordings -
From ambient bliss and Swedish pop zingers to Americana’s best-kept secret, the Observer’s critics pick some of this year’s releases that deserve a wider audience -
From an empty King’s College chapel to a treble duo with a cause, domestic Elizabethan music to the balm of vocals and kora, small-scale is beautiful
People
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The conductor’s final ever concert was at Sage Gateshead with the Royal Northern Sinfonia playing an all-Haydn programme. He leaves classical music changed emphatically for the better – and with less of that ‘wobbly stuff’ -
Brazilian pianist with a thoughtful and distinctive approach to the great concertos and his duo partnership with Martha Argerich -
He hunts all his own food, unwinds in the sauna, and yearns to play with the Rolling Stones. Meet the Philharmonia’s new principal conductor, a dynamic, 35-year-old Finn -
The pianist on playing to an empty Wigmore Hall, his novel about sex and priests, and being fingerprinted for working visas post-Brexit
You may have missed
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Verdi’s opera is not Shakespeare’s play set to music. It’s a different, but equally beautiful, tangle of colour and emotion, and its lead role is one I am still – after many years – getting to grips with -
The vibrant and bold music of Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Czech Vítězslava Kaprálová gave pianist Samantha Ege a sense of place and purpose -
ENO returns to live performances this season with a bold, ambitious choice: Wagner’s The Valkyrie. At the technical rehearsal we watched it take shape inside the Coliseum -
It was one of the most thrilling nights of his life. Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage explains why he wrote a soundtrack, full of terrace chants, to a legendary Gunners victory over Liverpool
Guides
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Expanding the classical canon brings us incredible music and extraordinary stories, not least that of Ethel Smyth, whose compositions and pioneering energy filled England in the interwar years -
Over the coming week, the Guardian will select the greatest culture since 2000, carefully compiled by critics and editors. We begin with a countdown of defining classical music compositions, from X-rated opera to high-tech string quartets -
Tom Service introduces 50 composers from the contemporary classical music scene -
Our series ends in Berlin, the classical music lover’s dream destination, with Berg, Busoni, Bowie and Bernstein.
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