La Scala

Addled, horrible, uproarious brilliance: Sebastian Murphy of Viagra Boys

Deeply unpleasant and thrilling: Viagra Boys make Primal Scream look antiseptic

1 June 2019 9:00 am

May was a cruel month for those middle-aged liberals who treasure their old alternative rock heroes. There was Morrissey, appearing…

The Gyorgy and Marta show: the nonagenarian couple have been an unlikely hit on YouTube

One of the last living avant-gardists speaks – Gyorgy Kurtag on his new Beckett opera

10 November 2018 9:00 am

Arriving in Budapest, I receive a summons I cannot refuse. Gyorgy Kurtag wants to see me. Famously elusive, the last…

Teetering chords and incestous sex: Francesca da Rimini at La Scala

How Riccardo Chailly brought joy – and Italian opera – back to La Scala

5 May 2018 9:00 am

As the curtain opens on the second act of Don Pasquale, I hear a rustle of discomfort. Donizetti’s opera has…

Director’s cut

23 September 2017 9:00 am

Much fuss has been made of the title given to Sir Simon Rattle on arrival at the London Symphony Orchestra.…

Musical maestros and football managers have more in common than you think

12 December 2015 9:00 am

You don’t have to be a follower of Liverpool Football Club, or football at all, to spot the difference. Two…

Towering but vulnerable presence: John Tomlinson as Moses

WNO's production of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron is an overwhelming experience – but make sure you close your eyes

31 May 2014 9:00 am

On paper, Moses und Aron might seem intractable and abstract: a 12-tone score setting a libretto that meditates on God,…