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  • Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea. Date/Period: 1871. Painting. Oil paint on wood. Width: 608 mm. Height: 502 mm. Author: WHISTLER, JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL.PNE158 Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea. Date/Period: 1871. Painting. Oil paint on wood. Width: 608 mm. Height: 502 mm. Author: WHISTLER, JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL.

    The twilight zone: Nocturnes, from piano to perfume and Russia to Richter

    The 19th-century composer John Field was the first to name his gentle and delicate piano pieces ‘nocturnes’. The word – and the genre of ‘sleep music’ it presaged – is ubiquitous today
  • Emilia Blossom Ostroumoff as Flora and Isabelle Peters as Governess in The Turn of the Screw

    Review
    The Turn of the Screw – gripping and unsettling water-logged staging of Britten’s ghost story

  • Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter holding her violin in a publicity portrait.

    Album review
    Anne-Sophie Mutter: East Meets West – diverse, bold and brand new

  • Nardus Williams as Asteria and James Laing as Tamerlano in Handel's opera

    London Handel festival review
    Tamerlano – Trump, Freud and a Bridgerton escapee struggle to get a handle on Handel

  • Handout photo of Bluey. See PA Feature SHOWBIZ Music Bluey. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ Music Bluey. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Ludo Studio 2018 NOTE TO EDITORS: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ Music Bluey

    Tom Service on music
    Can Bluey save classical music? Cartoon puppy’s all-encompassing soundtrack plays Bach and Beethoven to billions

  • Rory Musgrave in Mark Simpson’s The Immortal with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Daniela Candillari.

    Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/ Candillari review – Simpson’s oratorio shrieks; Elgar and Sibelius stay polite

  • Royal Festival Hall, Saturday 28 March 2026 | Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra; London Philharmonic Choir; London Chinese Philharmonic Choir; Tan Dun (conductor); Elizabeth Watts (soprano); Hongni Wu (mezzo-soprano); John Findon (tenor); Matthew Rose (bass) | Repertoire: Tan Dun: Choral Concerto (Nine) (UK premiere); Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Choral) Image © Julian Guidera 2026

    LPO/Tan Dun review – a full battery of drums, dramatic inhalations and hints of Mongolian throat singing

  • George Petean and Aida Garifullina performing in Verdi's Rigoletto at Royal Opera House

    Rigoletto review – strong revival of Mears’s violent take, with Elder revelatory in the pit

  • John Butt, Anna Dennis (Mary Magdalene), centre, Marcus Farnsworth (Jesus), Tansy Davies, far right, and the Dunedin Consort receive applause during The Passion of Mary Magdalene by Tansy Davies @ Barbican Hall. Directed and Conducted by John Butt. (Opening 24-03-2026) ©Tristram Kenton 03-26 (3 Raveley Street, LONDON NW5 2HX TEL 0207 267 5550 Mob 07973 617 355)email: tristram@tristramkenton.com

    The Passion of Mary Magdalene review – Tansy Davies’s score is taut and intriguing

  • Conductor Andris Nelsons gesturing expressively during a portrait session.

    Mendelssohn: Symphonies and Oratorios album review – Andris Nelsons’ prodigious talent on full display

  • Conductor Raphaël Pichon poses in an industrial corridor with arms outstretched

    Johannes-Passion album review – Pygmalion are razor sharp in theatrical new recording

  • Kitty WhatelyKitty Whately 007 (2019), by Sara Porter

    Through the Centuries: Songs of Madeleine Dring album review – puts paid to any idea that she was not a serious composer

  • Joseph Nolan reading sheet music at an organ in Paris

    Joseph Nolan: The Complete Alkan Organ Works, Vol 1 album review – seething with quasi-orchestral colour

People

  • Paavo Järvi conducting the Deutsche Kammerphilarmonie Bremen in 2021.

    News
    Paavo Järvi to succeed Edward Gardner at helm of London Philharmonic

  • Tamas VasaryHungarian pianist and Conductor Tamas Vasary performs during a concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, at St. James's Palace, in London, Monday, Nov. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, pool)

    Tamás Vásáry obituary

  • Davóne Tines, opera singer, press image

    Anthems, agency and arias: baritone Davóne Tines on rewriting his role – and the rules

  • In glasses, a white shirt and black jacket, Max Richter stands onstage while behind him, in softer focus, sit the musicians who have performed his score for Hamnet

    Max Richter: the composer who crosses the invisible divide between ‘high’ and ‘low’ music

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  • György Kurtág is awarded the diploma of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, earlier this month, in recognition of his life’s work.

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    ‘Play like a dog biting God’s feet’: Steven Isserlis on the formidable György Kurtág at 100

  • Barbara Hannigan performs The White Book in Gothenburg.

    Feature
    ‘Like turning your soul inside out’: Barbara Hannigan and Laura Bowler on their devastating composition The White Book

  • Taliban stand guard after setting fire to a pile of musical instruments.

    Tom Service on music
    The Taliban are burning musical instruments in the name of morality. It is an assault on all culture

    Tom Service

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