Italian Cinema and the age of Nino Rota

By James Imam, 25 November 2014

Loading, please wait...

“Rota repeatedly found the right colour against which his directors' images could dazzle.”

Bachtrack, 27th June

The composer of scores for films such as Mission: Impossible, Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke and Dirty Harry has died aged 93.

The wolf returns: Debbie Wiseman talks The Mirror and the Light

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, 7th November

Composer Debbie Wiseman talks about returning to Wolf Hall and the world of the Tudors, for the BBC’s adaptation of the conclusion to Hilary Mantel’s story of Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, The Mirror and the Light.

The forgotten German composer who pioneered opera in Japan

David Grundy, 29th May

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

Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and beyond

Lawrence Dunn, 10th March

We profile one of the most advanced and best-sounding concert halls in the UK, and take a look further afield at arts and culture across Manchester.

The magical world of composers’ handwriting

Lawrence Dunn, 17th December

From Buxtehude, Bach and Handel, to contemporary composer Liza Lim, we take a tour of the myriad forms of composers’ handwriting and calligraphy – and how music makes itself on the page.

Force of passion: the origins of Ballet Rambert

Alexander Simpkins, 12th December

A century after its founding in 1926, former members of Ballet Rambert recall the joys and challenges of working directly with Dame Marie Rambert, one of the trailblazers of British ballet.

James Imam

James Imam is an arts journalist writing for publications including The Financial Times, The Times, Musical America and Opera magazine. He grew up in Manchester, read anthropology at Cambridge and has since lived in Milan. As a once-aspiring countertenor he has an abiding interest in Baroque music.