EXPLAINED: 4 | Vintage Vibes

The Guardian view on 20th-century composers: play it again, maestro

Radio 3’s celebration of Pierre Boulez is a chance to revisit “difficult” music and break down divisions between old and new styles

The Guardian - UK · Mar 28, 2025

RPO/Giltburg/Petrenko review – intimate Beethoven and exhilarating Stravinsky from an orchestra on top form

In the first of the Royal Philharmonic’s Lights in the Dark series, Boris Giltburg’s Emperor Concerto had delicacy and grace, and the Rite of Spring and Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra were persuasive and lovingly shaped

The Guardian - UK · Jan 27, 2025

“When I got into Miles Davis' band, playing like my idols – Jaco, Stanley and Larry Graham – wasn't going to work. I had to dig and find something else”: How Marcus Miller found his voice – and became one of the most-imitated bassists in the biz

The bass icon breaks down his formative influences, and how he gave everyone from Prince to Beethoven a low-end makeover via his '77 Fender Jazz

Guitar World · Jan 18, 2025

Man, 88, passes grade 8 piano with distinction, 67 years after taking grade 7

Ray Eveleigh says playing helps keep his brain active and wife and daughter encouraged him to go for grade 8

The Guardian - UK · Dec 11, 2024

“Most of the classical venues have a very arrogant attitude towards pop music, which is what I’m considered to be by most of them”: Nils Frahm hits out at genre snobbery

“Most of the classical venues have a very arrogant attitude towards pop music, which is what I’m considered to be by most of them”

MusicRadar · Dec 4, 2024

Let’s talk about Tokaji, the Hungarian wine that inspired Beethoven and Goethe

Its distinctive sweetness with contrasting acidity is still inspirational today

The Guardian - UK · Dec 1, 2024

“I failed because a term has been created around the type of music I make”: Nils Frahm on struggling within the classical music space and navigating the live world

“I failed because a term has been created around the type of music I make”

MusicRadar · Nov 25, 2024

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal/Payare review – colour, pace and silky strings

The North American musicians and their Venezuelan conductor brought a programme of Habibi, Berlioz and Beethoven – with Javier Perianes the soloist in his first piano concerto – to London

The Guardian - UK · Nov 20, 2024

Takács Quartet review – a superlative performance in which the music never sits still

Britten’s second string quartet was framed by forward-looking works by Haydn and Beethoven with each work sounding fresh in an entrancing concert

The Guardian - UK · Nov 13, 2024

More Rock and Roll, From My "Commonplace Book"

Number 8 in a series of sense and nonsense from my files

Reason · Nov 12, 2024