Classical music

‘We need joy … and an audience’: The return of Simon Rattle and the LSO

Sir Simon and London Symphony Orchestra players tell a rehearsal audience of one what this week’s first live concert in a year means to them

Ed Vulliamy

16, May, 2021 @6:00 AM

‘Help us or LSO fails’: Sir Simon Rattle’s plea over Covid and Brexit

As the orchestra prepares to welcome back live audiences, the conductor urges ministers to act on new touring rules in Europe

Ed Vulliamy

16, May, 2021 @6:00 AM

Classical home listening: Rodelinda, Miloš and more

Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies lead the English Concert’s first-rate recording of Handel’s 1725 opera

Fiona Maddocks

15, May, 2021 @11:00 AM

Pauline Tinsley obituary

Soprano whose commanding presence in Wagner, Verdi and Strauss was better appreciated internationally than in Britain

Barry Millington

14, May, 2021 @7:41 PM

Richard Stoker obituary

Other lives: Composer, teacher and actor who was a colourful figure in British musical life for the past 60 years

Gill Stoker

14, May, 2021 @5:36 PM

From Adès’ angel to Verdi’s fat knight: what to see as classical and opera venues reopen

Live music is back across the UK; we pick ten events to brighten the coming months

Andrew Clements

14, May, 2021 @3:42 PM

BBC showing ‘negativity verging on hostility’ to classical documentaries

Exclusive: classical music film-makers Sir Humphrey Burton, Tony Palmer and Barrie Gavin say output lacks volume and quality

Dalya Alberge

13, May, 2021 @11:01 PM

Hindemith: Wind Sonatas review – fabulously fluent performances

There is lots to admire as the quintet and pianist capture Paul Hindemith’s best known sonatas to reveal their hidden depths

Andrew Clements

13, May, 2021 @5:20 PM

From Les Dennis to Valkyries – ENO announces reduced new season

After 19 months closed, the opera company under new artistic director Annilese Miskimmon will open with HMS Pinafore in a season that features the first in a new Ring Cycle, and the Handmaid’s Tale

Mark Brown Arts correspondent

12, May, 2021 @4:28 PM

This man made opera history. Why did I not know him?

Peter Brathwaite knew Bobby (Don’t Worry Be Happy) McFerrin but not his father Robert, the first Black man to sing at the Met. He celebrates a trailblazer and an inspiration

Peter Brathwaite

12, May, 2021 @7:00 AM

‘We won’t be bouncing back’ – the unsettling truth about the big reopening

Next week, after 14 months of closure and despair, the arts are reawakening. But the damage caused by Covid runs deep – and recovery is by no means assured

Charlotte Higgins

12, May, 2021 @5:00 AM

The Life of Music review – pushing at the boundaries of the classical canon

Nicholas Kenyon’s wide-ranging survey of the development of western music is packed with his passion for the subject