Inspired messiness
Can you tell how intelligent a musician is by listening to him play? Last year I discovered a recording of…
I could be dead soon. What should I listen to?
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
Running out of time
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
Running out of time
If I live as long as my father, I’ll be checking out on 9 December 2017. Since every man in…
In the mood for Parsifal, my Passiontide fare
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Power of ritual
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Power of ritual
This week, I have been mostly listening to Parsifal. Not the St Matthew Passion, which is my usual Passiontide fare.…
Menuhin is the world’s toughest violin competition. Why is it packed with Asians, and no Brits?
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
The Menuhin test
‘The truth is,’ says Gordon Back, lowering his voice, ‘that if the violin finalists from the BBC Young Musician of…
Are hymns dying?
I love a good hymn, so long as I’m not expected to sing it. Lusty declarations of faith sound ridiculous…
Sacred songs
I love a good hymn, so long as I’m not expected to sing it. Lusty declarations of faith sound ridiculous…
Sacred songs
I love a good hymn, so long as I’m not expected to sing it. Lusty declarations of faith sound ridiculous…
I know how to cure my music addiction
About 30 years ago, not long before he died, my father bought an LP of Sir Clifford Curzon playing Schubert’s…
Collecting compulsion
About 30 years ago, not long before he died, my father bought an LP of Sir Clifford Curzon playing Schubert’s…
Collecting compulsion
About 30 years ago, not long before he died, my father bought an LP of Sir Clifford Curzon playing Schubert’s…
Music to listen to when you've broken up with a precious friend
Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata is thrilling and brain-twisting. Its nickname derives from the fact that it was published as a sonata…
Damian Thompson: I may be in danger of becoming an opera queen
It’s taken 40 years, but I’ve finally developed a taste for the one type of classical music that I couldn’t…
Music at Mass is theological warfare by other means
How many battles have been fought over sacred music throughout history? The noise you make when you worship is a…
A world-class orchestra in the heart of São Paulo’s Crackland
Damian Thompson visits Brazil to hear Marin Alsop whip São Paulo’s orchestra into shape
Why has nobody heard of the miraculous Czech composer Zelenka?
When I was in my late twenties I discovered the joy of drinking alone. Well, perhaps ‘joy’ is putting it…
The new God squad: what Archbishop Welby and Pope Francis have in common
Evangelicals have taken charge in the Vatican and Lambeth Palace
