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Soprano Louise Alder reflects on her experiences singing both Susanna and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and exploring other Mozart roles. 

World-class artists and teachers, distinctive and delightful concert programmes, unique venues: this Finnish festival is the world capital of chamber music in July.

The city of Granada is a veritable musical stage, as its rich heritage, along with its streets, squares and gardens, provides the setting for a wide variety of music – ranging from the most authentic flamenco to jazz, Early music, dance and symphonic music.

Bachtrack Director Alison Karlin shares her top tips for keeping cool at concerts – especially outdoor summer festivals – during a heatwave.

Ahead of the Grafenegg Festival’s 20th edition this year, artistic director Rudolf Buchbinder talks about Grafenegg’s new hall that carries his name, and why he is more nervous in performance than ever.

This upcoming season at the Palau – which has a strongly Bachian and Beethovenian flavour – features many of Europe’s most celebrated soloists and ensembles.

Ahead of a new orchestral suite from Festen presented at the BBC Proms this month, Mark-Anthony Turnage talks about returning to this opera of secrets and revelations, and discovering things about his own family too.

The Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer talks about returning to an old friend: Brahms, whose Second Piano Concerto and Horn Trio he performs in several concerts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

The Bayreuth Festival will celebrate its anniversary season in 2026. It has been a pilgrimage site for Wagnerians for 150 years, with Bachtrack attending regularly since 2014. We asked our reviewers to share their fondest memories with us.

This year celebrated Scottish tenor Nicky Spence returns to the BBC Proms to perform in Oberon – and at the Last Night. But how does he feel about all the flag-waving?

Paris is home to a host of amateur orchestras. In a series of three articles, we take a closer look at these ensembles, from rehearsals to concerts. This third instalment features Ondes Plurielles and the COGE.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition famously depicts artworks by his friend Viktor Hartmann, but which other musical works were inspired by the visual arts?

Paris is home to a host of amateur orchestras. In a series of three articles, we’ll be taking a closer look at these ensembles, from rehearsals to concerts. This second instalment features Elektra.

Christopher Carr talks about the challenges of resetting Ashton’s Birthday Offering for a new generation, and how grateful he is to have notation to refer to the original choreography.

Liam Francis talks openly about creating a new dance company, finding his choreographic voice, successes and insecurities, and a circuitous route to securing a life in dance.

Paris is home to a host of amateur orchestras. In a series of three articles, we’ll be taking a closer look at these ensembles, from rehearsals to concerts. The first instalment features Ut Cinquième.

Every summer, Saaremaa Opera Festival and Narva Opera Days are held at the extreme west and eastern ends of Estonia – far from everyday life, where things can become uncanny, unpredictable and fantastical.

Longtime music journalist and founder of ArtsJournal talks about the multiple crises facing orchestras and arts organisations in the United States, amid the damage wrought by the second Trump administration.

The leading US soprano talks about her experiences singing one of opera’s most devastating roles, which she takes to Brno this autumn.

Christoph Poppen, new jury co-chair of the Hong Kong International Conducting Competition, argues that the competition valuable because it allows young conductors to meet one another, in what is an otherwise lonely profession.

Although his reputation rests principally on Der Freischütz, (Berlioz was a fan), Carl Maria von Weber was an outstanding composer, writing some of the greatest works in the clarinet repertoire.

With a penchant for Baroque music in historical livery, Collegium Musicum Riga are part of a small but distinctive Early music scene in Latvia, initiating collaborations with others across the Baltic states.

Ahead of the 2026 ARD International Music Competition, Quatuor Ébène’s Pierre Colombet and Gabriel Le Magadure talk about the competition’s transformative effect on their career, performing Beethoven around the world, and advocating for chamber music.

Robert Schumann’s music is intensely personal. Unlike the architectural grandeur of Beethoven or the theatrical brilliance of Franz Liszt, Schumann specialised in emotional intimacy and nuance.

A leading composer and conductor of opera in Germany, Manfred Gurlitt’s Jewish ancestry led to his music being banned. Emigrating to Japan, he became a pioneer of opera and Western classical music in Japan, a legacy still felt today.

Giulio Prandi, conductor of Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri, and violinist and concertmaster Gabriele Pro talk about crossing borders, adopting shared sensibilities, and the challenges facing historically informed musicians in Italy today.

Erkki-Sven Tüür talks about making sanctuary on Hiiumaa, a wild island to Estonia’s west, and his interest in writing concertos, seen “through the eyes of someone who observes the world very closely”.

The Toronto-born composer talks about new work Romanza for piano and orchestra, theatricality in music, taking influences from psychology, and the effect on his music of working for the United Nations.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Jonathan Payn talks about The Green Table by Kurt Jooss, first performed in Paris in 1932 – and how choreography can respond to political collapse and the threat of war. 

A group of younger Croatian musicians, including new ensemble Gli Schiavoni, are determined to recover the historical music of Croatia, despite a devastating series of earthquakes and armed conflicts.

Brett Dean, Heather Betts and Lotte Betts-Dean sit down to discuss their work on Of One Blood, a new opera dramatising the lives of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots – affairs of the family all round.

Ahead of a return to Prague to perform with the Czech Philharmonic, Anastasia Kobekina talks about Bryce Dessner’s new cello concerto, Trembling Earth, her love for Dvořák, and exploring new instruments.

Amanda Britton, Artistic Director of Rambert School, talks about an exchange and collaboration between the Rambert School and Juilliard to create a new work by Wayne McGregor, a unique project.

Founder of celebrated young vocal ensemble Cantoría talks about being a musical organiser, singing musical ensaladas, and how Barcelona might be the capital of Early music on the Iberian peninsula. 

If music be the food of love... the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon has inspired composers for centuries. Enjoy our top ten playlist featuring works from Felix Mendelssohn to Thomas Adès. 

Five years ago, the Japanese violinist made the spontaneous decision to enter the prestigious Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition. She talks about how her win in 2022 was a musically life-changing experience.

Ahead of an appearance at London’s Cadogan Hall, the Swedish mezzo-soprano talks about her love for French and German song, and combining intimate performances with opera singing on a much larger scale.

The Spanish violinist makes her Sinagpore debut in May performing Szymanowski. She talks about taking repertoire to new places, and being an advocate for unusual Spanish music. 

The Austrian conductor reflects on his seven year tenure with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, work and life, returning to old scores, and why a musical ensemble is like a giant human body.

The Hong Kong-born conductor talks about her entry into music, her love of big Russian repertoire, her “Cinderella moment” winning the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and her ambition to “go against the grind”. 

The Royal College of Music offers an enviable nurturing ground for the next generation of operatic talent. Audrey Hyland, head of the Vocal and Opera faculty, talks about what makes the department special. 

As the Franz Schubert Filharmonia celebrates its 20th anniversary, conductor Tomàs Grau tells the story of the ensemble, reflects on the importance of local music institutions, and gives a glimpse of the road ahead.

Renowned harpsichordist Jean Rondeau presents a new view of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at this year’s Bachfest Schaffhausen, including in arrangement for Baroque ensemble, and as a new composition for piano, percussion and electronics inspired by the cycle.

Among the most performed living composers by orchestras worldwide, Montgomery talks about her personal approach to musical storytelling, and writing a new cello concerto for Abel Selaocoe.

The young Polish harpsichordist with the Cohaere Ensemble talks about the Early music scene in Poland, her investigations into music of 18th-century Danzig, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities.

Renowned Japanese conductor returns to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to perform unusual music from Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda – an influence on Robert Schumann, who described him as “unique in the world of symphonies”.

Medieval music specialists Irini Bilini Moraiti and Dimitris Kountouras talk about their distinctive approaches to Early music in Greece, and the survival of old music through oral traditions.

The Royal Opera’s Principal Guest Conductor explains her passion for opera, her journey into the pit and how good conductors share the attributes of football managers. 

How to defamiliarize Mozart’s well known piano concertos? This April pianist Cristian Sandrin joins the London Mozart Players for new chamber arrangements of three concertos, for solo piano and string quartet.

The Japanese mezzo soprano is returning to the New National Theatre, Tokyo for her role debut in Massenet’s Werther. We talk about her love for Rossini, and expansions into later Romantic opera.