Classical music struck me as a chore when I was a kid. It’s not that I didn’t like the way it sounded; I was just too restless to sit through the concerts my mother would drag me to, or even to make ...

François Couperin was one of the baroque era’s greatest keyboard composers. Did he write any orchestral music? Er, no. Though listen to a few minutes of Hugo Reyne’s version of his trio sonata “La ...

Ruperto Chapí: String Quartets 1 and 2 Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Sono Luminus) Think string quartet and you tend to think Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart. Maybe Bartók and Shostakovich. But generally ...

Riccardo Chailly and Teatro alla Scala resurrect a stirring though uneven tribute by Verdi and his contemporaries (Decca, two CDs) Rossini died in Paris on 13 November 1868. Four days later, Verdi ...

The remarkable young soprano Olga Peretyatko returns with the release of her third album Rossini! (Sony Classical). Available now, the recording is entirely dedicated to arias by the composer. Of ...

This is a collection of music composed by William Byrd for viol consort, probably between 1560 and 1603. The viol is the ancestor of the cello, a fretted, bowed instrument with six strings. It comes ...

Rossini's "Stabat Mater" stands alongside the Verdi Requiem (which pays explicit homage to it) as one of the great operas of the liturgical repertoire. This exciting new recording, led by conductor ...

Sofia Fomina in 'Guillaume Tell' at Covent Garden in London. Rossini's five act grand opera Guilliaume Tell is having a controversial run of performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in ...

Kamran Ince: Hot, Red, Cold, Vibrant, Requiem Without Words, Before Infrared, Symphony No 5, ‘Galatasaray’ Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Turkish Ministry of Culture Choir/Kamran Ince (Naxos) This is a ...

Amid reports of insolvent symphony orchestras, lackluster box-office receipts and sagging CD sales, classical music is still very much alive. Classical blogs, social-media sites and listservs are only ...

Desandre flies in a vivacious baroque programme, while a new edition of Rossini’s late work is small but perfectly formed The young French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre studied ballet for 12 ...