Music, Classical

John Paul Jones: A Musical

Although it seems unlikely that the father of the American navy was the son of a Scottish gardener, the story of how Nithsdale born John Paul Jones achieved such revered status is so incredible that it has to be true. What is surprising, however, is…

Concert to take place on board first flying Concorde

Lammermuir Festival hosts Peter Nelson's electro-acoustic piece

It stopped flying in 2003, but the chance to step aboard Concorde is still available, albeit without any possibility of zooming off to New York. It is only but one – but perhaps the most unusual – concert venue being used by the new Lammermuir Festival…

Opera Bohemia

Talented new company's Fringe debut

As the name may suggest, Opera Bohemia’s title was inspired by the aspiring artist characters in Puccini’s La Bohéme. Founded by two former RSAMD students, Alistair Digges and Douglas Nairne, this new opera company is a wealth of extraordinary fresh…

Barockestra: Rocking the Classics

Enthusiastic rock take on well-known classical pieces

Rock interpretations of well-known classical pieces from Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the like featuring a full rock band, opera singer and ballerinas to give a foot-tapping tour of the greats. Overlaid with a cheesy humour that you could only…

The avant garde planet of Boguslaw Schaeffer

An 80-year-old Polish polymath is set to be the discovery of the Fringe, says Mark Fisher

Boguslaw Schaeffer reckons he’s living in the year 2048. It’s as plausible a claim as anything else you could say about this extraordinary Polish octogenarian. His name might not be widely known, yet he has led a breathtakingly creative life. As a…

Sarah Connolly

Mezzo soprano returns to jazz roots

Among other things, 2010 is likely to be memorable as the year of the mezzo-soprano at the Edinburgh International Festival. Joyce DiDonato, Petra Lang and Christine Brewer, who replaces the indisposed Susan Graham, are just three of the famous names…

5 Questions - Barockestra

It started off as an idea for an album, now 14 years later rocker Steve Grant and Emmerdale’s Deena Payne have formed a troupe of rock musicians, opera singers and classical dancers to bring Barockestra to life – think Mozart playing an electric guitar…

Red Cello Electrified

South African cellist plugs in

When thinking of solo cello music, something like Bach’s ‘Six Suites For Unaccompanied Cello’ generally spring to mind. Perhaps something more conventional such as this should have been in South African soloist Carol Thorns' thoughts also, as her…

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra play Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony

Helsinki-based orchestra bring two nights of romance and drama

In a festival blockbuster of an orchestral programme at the Usher Hall, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s pair of concerts stands out as a triple celebration of one of Scandinavia’s greatest composers, Wagner and the human voice. In putting on…

Jonathan Biss opens EIF Queen's Hall series

Young American talent will bring passion to EIF launch

Whether volunteering for Barack Obama in the Primaries or traversing the globe with his intimate piano recitals, the young Jonathan Biss has long proved he’s no run-of-the-mill talent. Light on pomp and heavy in enthusiasm, the Indiana-raised pianist…

Norrington to step in for EIF concert

Conductor to replace Sir Charles Mackeras for Idommeneo performance

Following the sad news last month that Sir Charles Mackerras had passed away, the Edinburgh International Festival has announced that Sir Roger Norrington will now conduct the performance of Idomeneo with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Fri 20 Aug.

Porgy and Bess takes centre stage at Edinburgh International Festival

Opéra de Lyon's production of Gershwins' crossover classic

As operas go, it’s fair to say that Porgy and Bess blew in like a hurricane. When George and Ira Gershwin’s self-styled ‘American folk opera’ featuring a libretto by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward appeared on the New York stage in 1935, its cast of…

Five new music books

Rob Jovanovic - The Velvet Underground Unpeeled Some bands just refuse to go away and the Reed/Cale combo is one such example. This is the first full biog for two decades and is based on exclusive chats with the surviving members. Aurum. Rob Young…

Gould Piano Trio and Doric String Quartet set for Music at Paxton

It’s only a few years old, but the Music at Paxton festival of top-notch chamber music in a beautiful setting is an event looked forward to by music lovers far and wide. Whether resident in the peaceful Borders countryside where Paxton House sits by the…

Phillip Glass performs Drift 2010

If any show being staged in the grand old (but newly renovated) Usher Hall counts as being an intimate one, then this is it. The American composer Philip Glass, famed for his film scores, operas and popular collaborations, will be performing a set of…

Edinburgh festivals line-ups announced

Whatever your cultural poison, Edinburgh’s festival circuit has it covered

Five:15 in twenty:10

The state of the economy is never far from the headlines these days, but as an opera subject it is somewhat unexpected. Not so in Scottish Opera’s latest batch of five short new operas. For the third year of the company’s bold commissioning strand…

Mr McFall's Chamber - Birds & Beasts

(Delphian Records) A quintet of classical string players both thinking and playing out of the box, a jazz pianist and two drummers, and a piper with both folk and jazz leanings – it can only be Mr McFall’s. The music is equally eclectic – two…

Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Erkki-Sven Tüür premiere

With a population of just over 1 million, Estonia, one of the EU’s newer small countries, is significantly smaller than Scotland. While new in terms of joining the EU, Estonia is, of course, like Scotland in that it is a much more ancient and historic…

La Bohème

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sat 27 Feb 2010

Two completely contrasting operas are on offer from Scottish Opera in the company’s spring foray to Edinburgh this year. Not that Edinburgh audiences are unfamiliar with Stewart Laing’s production of Puccini’s La bohème. First seen back in 2004, Laing’s…

MacMillan at 50 - James MacMillan 50th birthday concert

One good thing – usually among many – about performing groups, composers and ‘big’ birthdays is that the parties tend to go on for a while. The Scottish Ensemble have been marking their 40th anniversary all season, and while the actual date of James…

Six Short Piano Pieces

Arnold Schoenberg wrote his sparse, tiny Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke (Six Short Piano Pieces) in 1911, at a time of great personal and artistic upheaval. It’s no coincidence that Ian Spink has chosen this particular work for his first choreographic…

Edinburgh, My Home: Jonathan Mills

Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan Mills on the virtues and indiscretions of his adopted home

John Adams and Lee Breuer among Edinburgh International Festival 2010 highlights

As the programme is launched for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, we cast an eye over the highlights

Jacques Loussier Trio

Nestling among the classical superstar line-up of pianist Joanna MacGregor, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey and violinist James Ehnes, who appear in Glasgow’s International Classical Season to celebrate the music of JS Bach, there’s a name that doesn’t…