What they've said…
'Last year someone asked me what I did for a living. When I said pianist the reaction was "How wonderful it must be to have a stress-free job!"
Pianist Paul Lewis on the care-free life of the international soloist
On this day...
… in 1840, Mendelssohn's Second Symphony, Lobgesang, was given its premiere at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Written to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the Gutenberg printing press with movable type, this unusual choral-orchestral work was an immediate hit. The audience 'rose involuntarily from their seats,' wrote Mendelssohn's composer friend Ignaz Moscheles, 'a custom which had usually been confined in England to the performance of the Hallelujah Chorus.'
On air
Why do women die in opera? Radio 3, Saturday 26 June, 12.15pm
Verdi’s Violetta, Strauss’s Salome and Puccini’s Tosca all met sticky ends in their respective operas. Journalist and opera fan Martin Kettle finds out why so many women die in opera, unearthing some unexpected answers on the way.
Questionable CD covers
On our CD shelves this week: we're not quite sure what point John Joubert is making. But we hope it doesn't hurt.
And finally…
Malena Ernman and Martin Fröst take flight…