This Nintendo-Shaped Piano is the Embodiment of All Your Childhood Dreams
It’s Super Mario’s 30th anniversary, and there are countless creative ways to celebrate the leaps and the heroic feats of the Italian plumber that defined … Read more
CLASSICAL
Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra wants you to pay what you want and bring your own booze to their concert
Autumn brings a welcome novelty to Manchester Bridgewater Hall, where the award-winning Hallé orchestra will perform selections of the finest examples of music of the … Read more
Is Classical Music in Danger of Becoming too ‘Relaxing’?
It’s not too hard to see why, for some people, classical music is considered as background music rather than something to focus on and appreciate. … Read more
What do a bassoon and a lion have in common? The Campaign “Save The Bassoon” tries to answer that
What do a bassoon and a lion have in common? They are both endangered species, at least according to the campaign called Save The Bassoon, … Read more
How and how long should you practise? Violinist Itzhak Perlman weighs in
“Practise slowly” is the most common advice violinist Itzhak Perlman gives children whenever they ask him for his autograph. Practising slowly, he continues on The … Read more
This violin survived the sinking of the Titanic (almost) unscathed and will soon be on display
Let’s take a moment to talk about Titanic and the music associated with it. I am not talking about the sensual “Rose” theme or the … Read more
5 Reasons Classical Music Isn’t Dying
Over the past few years, U.S. and European media have been predicting classical music’s death with a regularity usually reserved for elderly heads of state … Read more
Listen to Leonardo da Vinci’s Forsaken Instrument: it sounds like a music ensemble
The Codex Atlanticus contains a plethora of interesting drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci: in it, the painter/engineer/genius/renaissance man drafted parachutes, hydraulic pumps and all sorts … Read more
This version of Mozart’s Queen of the Night played on the erhu sounds as intense as the original
If you are just a tiny bit like me, you must have more than a soft spot for Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache, the aria performed … Read more
The Early History of the Salzburg Festival
The annual summer festival attracts visitors from around the world to Salzburg, Austria, showcasing the city’s rich artistic heritage. Concert halls, churches, palaces, theaters, and … Read more
Have a look at Steinway’s Fibonacci-inspired Grand Piano: Music meets the golden ratio
Steinway and Sons has come a long way: it crafted 600.000 pianos and, to mark the occasion, furniture designer Frank Pollaro created The Fibonacci, a … Read more
What does the world’s largest playable violin sound like? [VIDEO]
It has bows, strings and is over four meters tall. Two musicians are required to move the bow which, in case you were wondering, is … Read more
Is it possible to sing Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria any worse than this?
Florence Foster Jenkins was an American soprano who became famous for her complete lack of rhythm, pitch, tone, and overall singing ability. She was considered … Read more
Five Classical Pieces with the Golden Ratio
During the fifth century BC, the Greeks determined that there was a proportion that recurred in geometry, nature and architecture, that embodied the quintessential concept … Read more
Can we write Bach’s music as functions? Yes
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offerings contains ten canons: in each of these, a musical line is played twice (four times in canon 10) and the … Read more