Serena Malfi: “I was scared I would never sing again”

By Stephen Pritchard, 21 February 2019

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“Nothing can stop me now... After that experience, anything is easier”

Jessica Duchen, 7th January

The Irish soprano talks about singing Mozart’s Così fan tutte with English National Opera, in London and Manchester – and how the wily Despina is the perfectly subversive character for her.

Cosmopolitan commonwealths: Natalia Olczak on Early music in Poland

Lawrence Dunn, 20th March

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.

Rare symphonies: Masaaki Suzuki returns to Singapore

Nahoko Gotoh, 19th March

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 survivors: Irini Bilini Moraiti on Early music in Greece

Lawrence Dunn, 18th March

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.

Opera in the blood: Speranza Scappucci

Mark Pullinger, 17th March

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.

Pure agilità: Aya Wakizono returns to Tokyo

Nahoko Gotoh, 13th March

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.

Stephen Pritchard

Stephen Pritchard began singing as a treble at the age of eight and progressed to become a tenor in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, the Gibbons Consort and now the English Chamber Choir. Writing about music has been at the core of his 40-year career in journalism, chiefly at the Observer. He has been known to play a pretty mean jazz double bass.