http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/free-podcast-vasily-petrenkos-shostakovich-project-at-the-royal-liverpool-philharmonic-orchestra-1826188.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/free-podcast-vasily-petrenkos-shostakovich-project-at-the-royal-liverpool-philharmonic-orchestra-1826188.html ]]> <p> The charismatic St. Petersburg-born Vasily Petrenko has really been turning things around at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra since he took over as Principal Conductor in 2005. </p> Features Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:42:49 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/ballet-and-opera--the-odd-couple-1823711.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/ballet-and-opera--the-odd-couple-1823711.html ]]> <p>It's not that the loos at the Royal Opera House are necessarily an ideal barometer of public taste, but attending Wagner's Tristan und Isolde recently, I had a startling experience: it was the only time I have ever noticed a longer queue for the men's room than the women's. But, a few days later, in the interval of a dress rehearsal for the ballet The Sleeping Beauty, there was barely a man in sight. Opera and ballet audiences don't often mix, and it's not only about gender. How many people at each show, I wonder, would have ventured into the other?</p> Features Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/observations-ryuichi-sakamotos-unchained-melodies-1823829.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/observations-ryuichi-sakamotos-unchained-melodies-1823829.html <p> "I am just trying to avoid being a slave to the old musical system," says Ryuichi Sakamoto of his new CD, Out of Noise. "I was doing that when I was 18, but then came a long detour into pop and film music. I now want to get back to my roots." And the world's most eccentric singer-songwriter gives a self-deprecating laugh: that detour included modelling for Gap, playing a sadistic prison guard opposite David Bowie, co-starring with Madonna in the video for Rain, and composing the music for a long list of feature films, including Shirin Neshat's 2009 Women Without Men. </p> Features Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/exclusive-independent-offer-cheap-eno-tickets-1818624.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/exclusive-independent-offer-cheap-eno-tickets-1818624.html ]]> <p> Daniel Kramer’s remarkable new production of Bartók’s haunting opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. </p> Features Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:29:11 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/free-podcast-the-bernstein-project-at-southbank-centre-1817969.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/free-podcast-the-bernstein-project-at-southbank-centre-1817969.html ]]> <p> Listen to the famed icon’s daughter Jamie Bernstein speak about her father, Leonard Bernstein, with Independent Classical correspondent Edward Seckerson in this podcast specially commissioned for Southbank Centre’s The Bernstein Project. </p> Features Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:46:32 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/michael-church-brilliance-and-brainlessness-at-eno-1817609.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/michael-church-brilliance-and-brainlessness-at-eno-1817609.html <p> To see the revival of David McVicar’s fabulous ‘Turn of the Screw’ (left) is to be reminded just how good English National Opera can be when it sticks to its metier: getting brilliant directors to give tried and trusted classics a new and original twist, with singers who understand how to work as an ensemble. </p> Features Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:41:06 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/observations-thomas-arne-is-due-a-revival-after-166-years-1811321.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/observations-thomas-arne-is-due-a-revival-after-166-years-1811321.html ]]> <p>"Rule, Britannia!" is one of the most familiar tunes in Britain, but whatever happened to its composer? This season marks the tricentenary of Thomas Arne, the compositional superstar of 18th-century Britain, yet now virtually forgotten beyond that one aria. To celebrate, the Royal Opera House is presenting his opera Artaxerxes which was premiered in the same spot in 1762, but has not been heard there (or in many other places) since 1843. </p> Features Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/eno-podcast-duke-bluebeards-castle-and-the-rite-of-spring-1809836.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/eno-podcast-duke-bluebeards-castle-and-the-rite-of-spring-1809836.html ]]> <p> Edward Seckerson talks to Duke Bluebeard's Castle director Daniel Kramer, The Rite of Spring director/choregrapher Michael Keegan-Dolan, and conductor Edward Gardner </p> Features Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:56:30 +0000