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From the courts of Italy during the Renaissance to the grandeur of the Russian Imperial Ballet, discover more about the influence of italian virtuosity on Russian ballet

London's latest festival of small scale opera offers four very different shows, with music from Rimsky to Kurtág, and styles from schmaltz to avant-garde.

Origins: from the Royal court of Louis XIV to neoclassicism.  The Paris Opera Ballet company has a long-standing History, dating back to 1662, and the establishment of the Académie Royale de Danse by Louis XIV. At the time, the Academy’s mission was to develop the theatrical dance style performed in court, which noblemen and the King himself took part in.

It’s common knowledge that Louis XIV developed the foundations of classical ballet in the late 17th century, during his long and rather extraordinary reign as King of France. But was the French King the true mastermind of ballet technique? 

This week's At Home Guide explores how ballet music evolved from a sideshow to a well-respected artform. Click on the links to listen while you read. 

As part of our film and game music month, we go deep into the work of Joe Hisaishi, the composer behind Studio Ghibli's best-loved scores.

A brief examination of the partly forgotten musical seeds that led to Williams’ distinctive cinematic soundworld

Franz Waxman is known for his film scores, yet he also composed classical music. In the year of the 50th anniversary of his death, we look back on his work.

In Edinburgh and Glasgow, the RSNO is bringing swathes of new audience into the concert hall to hear a live orchestra for the first time. 

Christopher Tin has worked in a whole range of fields, producing works that span film, video games and epic song cycles. Just don't call him a “video game composer”.

Italy has such an abundance of la dolce vita musicale it can be overwhelming, especially in the long, languid summer months when music-lovers, culture-cognoscenti and garrulous gourmands alike can savour the best of what this extraordinary country has to offer.

In July and August, Parisians flee the city to the provinces, where stunning landscapes and hundreds of music festivals await them. We explore the rich diversity.

Opera with the stars or under the stars? Country house picnics or rare repertoire in smaller venues? Our 2017 opera festivals guide has something for everyone!

For nearly three weeks in August, renowned international performers and rising stars take to the stage to play the music of Bach and Chopin, and much, much more in this the thirteenth edition of the Chopin and his Europe International Festival, presented by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw.

This year's festival opens with the most lavish work of an exceptionally important composer. So why has it languished unperformed for so long?

This year’s edition of the Toronto Summer Music (TSM) marks two milestones: along with a celebration of Canada’s Sesquicentennial, it will inaugurate Jonathan Crow’s tenure as new Artistic Director. Crow, 40, is an internationally acclaimed violinist who has served as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2011.

Michael Chance tells us about planned improvements to the festival-going experience and tells us about the operas that will form part of the new festival.

Taking place every summer in Trentino, the Sounds of the Dolomites festival combines music and nature like never before.

Four of the world's great orchestras are all set to celebrate cornerstones of their repertoire in the fabled acoustic of the recently renovated Suntory Hall.

Read our wide-ranging interview about Monteverdi's operas, their cultural context, performing them today and why they remain as contemporary and fresh as when they were written four centuries ago.

The prolific recording artist and founder of Concerto Italiano answers our questions about Monteverdi and other music of the period.

Whether you're looking for Handel, Bach, Monteverdi, Telemann or mix of all of these; whether you like your Baroque music in a grand palace, an intimate chapel or a state-of-the-art concert hall, our 2017 roundup has something for you.

Following the example of Rebecca Lentjes’ January feature “Top Ten Living Women Composers”, I have made my pick of women composers of the Baroque period in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Feast your eyes on this marvellous collection of Europe's surviving baroque theatres.

For its second season under the leadership of principal conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra offers a wonderfully balanced programme. As well as featuring some of the world’s leading soloists, Icelandic composers and performers are also championed.

Following on from Central Europe, the East and North America, Dijon takes on the flavours of the Iberian world – Spain, Portugal and Latin America

Most classical music fans would associate Tokyo's Suntory Hall with its symphonic hall and its great acoustics, but in fact, the venue also has a beautiful wood-panelled chamber music hall named “Blue Rose”.

Few opera singers capture the public imagination like Anna Netrebko. And there are few more glittering occasions in the opera calendar than the opening night of the season at the Teatro alla Scala.

Giovanni Antonini's latest challenge is the Artistic Directorship of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław Poland, intending to raise its profile on the European scene.

When it is not digging up Donizetti rarities, English Touring Opera can often be found performing Baroque opera. Artistic Director James Conway has decided on a return to the Baroque for its autumn season. 

The Australian Heldentenor shares his preparations for learning Tristan, his thoughts on opera productions and his passionate views about the current state of Opera Australia and ENO.

Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho is renowned for heartfelt performances as some of opera's most tortured soprano roles, especially Violetta in La traviata, the opera in which she sprang to fame in London when she jumped in for an indisposed Anna Netrebko. 

Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais shot to international fame in 2010 in Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Bavarian State Opera. She talks to us having recently performed the role in Mary Zimmerman’s much anticipated new production at The Met.

Ahead of Vienna's première of Il trovatore, the tenor who crosses borders between France and Italy, opera and popular song, spoke to us about the roles of Manrico and Cyrano, being a gypsy, a hero, returning to Italy, about family and more.

With two new role creations in progress, baritone Stéphane Degout will be back this summer to the Aix Festival for the world première of Pinocchio. He talks to us about the process of creating new opera roles.

Aleksandra Kurzak tells us about making ten role debuts in a year as her voice shifts from bel canto to the dramatic repertoire she has been dreaming about since childhood.

“Music is a multi-dimensional, dynamic process unfolding as a relationship between an individual or a group of individuals, and sound vibrations.

Taking time out from working on his new opera, Girls of the Golden West, which premières in San Francisco later this year, we spoke to John Adams about politics, Scheherazade.2 and where he sees the future for classical music.

The Holland Festival has always celebrated and promoted new work and takes its 70th anniversary to both look forward, with plenty of world premières, but also to reflect on its past. 

There are plenty of occasions to hear Beethoven's symphonies or Mozart's operas throughout the year. But what about the 21st century repertoire? Contemporary music lovers often find it hard to quench their thirst for new music. Thankfully, some festivals specialise in contemporary music, giving to everyone the opportunity to drink their fill.

Daniel Barenboim inaugurated last month the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. The most interesting feature of the hall lies not in its flowing architecture, but rather in its name: the Pierre Boulez Saal. One year after the French composer death, what is his legacy?

According to online showcase/podcast Listening to Ladies, during the 2015–2016 season, the top 89 symphony orchestras in the US dedicated only 2% of their programs to music composed by women.