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The classical music website

Jean Sibelius frequently looked to the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, for inspiration. Here, we look at how it figured in his music. 

Austrian-Russian pianist Lisa Smirnova features in the London Piano Festival at Kings Place this October. We caught up with her for a quick Q&A.

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made a huge impact on the operatic world in the summer of 2015. We caught up with her ahead of her season as Artist in Residence with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

The list of great Soviet composers over the last hundred years will always bring out the big names, but what about those unsung heroes of the late 20th century whose music captures the mood of a generation?

In attempting to cement a sense of Russian identity through music, the nation's composers looked to history for inspiration. 

Many stories have been told about the genesis of the Leningrad Symphony, not least by Shostakovich himself and his many friends. 

When the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent civil war smashed through Russian society a hundred years ago, the close links between Russian and European music, and between Russian art, music and literature were shattered, and a new artistic world had to be built on what was left.

The person responsible for the explosion of ballet across the world in the twentieth century wasn’t a dancer. He wasn’t a choreographer either. Nor was he a musician or a composer. He wasn’t even very rich.

The Sleeping Beauty is perhaps the Ugly Duckling of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets. It was the second in the trilogy, completed in 1889, but has neither the dramatic thrust of Swan Lake nor the calorific sugar-coated charm of The Nutcracker in terms of popular appeal. 

As we hurtle towards October and the centenary of the Russian Revolution, 18 organisations in Wales have banded together in a show of artistic muscle to mark the anniversary. 

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? 

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

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.

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”.

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.

New productions, including a stellar Parsifal starring Kaufmann and Gerhaher, mix with the standard rich repertory pickings in the Bavarian capital

100 years after the première of Bluebeard's Castle, the Hungarian State Opera celebrates with not one, but four different productions of Bartók’s opera.

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra's season includes core classical favourites, starry soloists and forays into lesser-played repertoire for the musically curious.

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.

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. 

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.

Deutsche Oper has a cornucopia in store for the new season. It promises some bold takes on the core repertoire, several enticing rarities, and a world première by the eminent German composer Aribert Reimann.

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

Few orchestras in the UK cover as many miles – from Exeter and Portsmouth to Bristol and Basingstoke – although the Lighthouse in Poole has been its central home for decades.

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.