Charlotte Smith

‘Everything you’ve heard is true,’ proclaimed the posters for Miloš Forman’s Amadeus – a cinematic tale of genius and envy, based on Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed stage play about Mozart and Salieri’s bitter rivalry. Forty years on, Charlotte Smith looks back at a very special production

American violinist Rachel Barton Pine takes inspiration from Scottish folk to thrash metal – and, as she tells Charlotte Smith, she’s now making new musical discoveries through parenthood

Most associated with the operas of Wagner, a leitmotif is a brief musical device signifying a character, location or idea, as Charlotte Smith explains

Here is our selection of the greatest pieces ever written for cello and orchestra. Do you agree?

Like its cousin the oboe, the bassoon has a double reed which gives it a particularly distinctive sound

As their name suggests, stringed instruments use vibrated strings to produce sound – but how are these instruments played and what are the different types?

The larger cousin of the violin and viola, but smaller than the double bass, the cello is a popular bowed stringed instrument, capable of great range and expression

Used by violinists, violists, cellists and double bassists, rosin helps to create friction between the bow hair and strings

Composer Michael Daugherty and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers tell Charlotte Smith about Blue Electra, a new work inspired by the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart

Often the term ‘tone deaf’ is used to describe a person with little musical talent – but those with genuine tone deafness are unable to distinguish differences in pitch, as Charlotte Smith explains

Woodwind instruments produce sound by directing a stream of air through a hollow tube – but how are these instruments played and what are the different types?

Dartmouth Films will release Sheila Hayman’s feature film Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn on 27 October throughout the UK

Rutter joins a list of 24 Fellows, including John Adams, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Judith Weir CBE and Sting

The inaugural programme for students aged 11 to 18 will take place on select Sundays from November 2023 to April 2024

Where can you see the Dutch violinist, dubbed the ‘King of Waltz’, and his Johann Strauss Orchestra during this year’s festive season?

The coloratura soprano describes her journey to become the most world’s most prolific Queen of the Night from Mozart’s Magic Flute

25 former boy choristers from the 1953 Coronation met at St John's Smith Square, London in July to celebrate the occasion’s 70th anniversary

Bell releases his new Butterfly Lovers recording for Sony Classical on 30 June 2023

Composer Richard Peat shares the inspirations for his new community oratorio, The Sky Engine, which asks, Can a father and daughter save the world from climate catastrophe?

The 29-year-old Italian bass has won this year's BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, with the Audience Prize going to soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong from Colombia

The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute viola professor Hsin-Yun Huang reflects on music's cult of perfection

Ahead of BBC Two's broadcast of John Bridcut's new documentary about composer Michael Tippett, conductor Martyn Brabbins discusses deciphering Tippett's notoriously difficult musical scores