This exhibition brings together the largest-ever outdoor assembly of Moore’s work, and marks almost two decades since his pieces were last shown at Kew Gardens. Much has happened since then. That previous Moore exhibition was an early entry in Kew’s ongoing, hugely significant initiatives to present vital work on the widest possible canvas – the…
Category: review
’55’: A lifelong piano duo legacy
For more than half a century, pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque have held a distinctive place in the musical landscape. Celebrated for the brilliance and precision of their ensemble playing, they have also pursued a career marked by an unusually wide-ranging curiosity.
Going for a song: a recital disc round-up
Do not adjust your browser: this is not my annual ‘recordings of the year’ post, four months early. However, I feel that in my favourite area of classical music – song – there’s been an especially exciting run of releases during 2026: far too many to post about at length, or wait longer to do…
Around the Globe with Stephen Hough
Sir Stephen Hough takes us on a world tour with his new album Postcards, a charming collection of piano miniatures, souvenirs, if you will, collected over his many years of touring and performing around the globe.
Echo chamber: ‘Tao of Glass’, Soho Place, London, UK
‘Tao of Glass’ is somewhere between play and performance art, a mix of memoir, meditation and music. It’s a show only actor-director Phelim McDermott could create, and probably only now. It brings together the elements one might expect from him – innovative uses of movement, props and puppets to create a visual language, a universe…
Grieving pianist receives a 200-year-old hug from Schubert
When George Fu lost his father, he turned to Schubert for solace. Fu likened the experience of playing Schubert’s Sonata No 19 in C minor to receiving “a hug from 200 years ago”. Out of this difficult time came a recording, Solitude with Schubert. Impressed with the Schubert project, Karine Hetherington from ArtmuseLondon, went to find…
Still life: ‘Marilyn Monroe: a Portrait’, National Portrait Gallery, London
I confess: initially I was in two minds about even attending this exhibition. The hook, for the record, is that 2026 marks Marilyn Monroe’s centenary year. Even so, i was a little sceptical about why – outside its being a surefire hot ticket – the gallery would shine a spotlight on surely one of the…
‘Finale with no ending’ Burstein celebrates the diversity of music
In May of this year I attended the premier of Keith Burstein’s new work, Finale With No Ending, a sextet, which offers tango, Jewish folk music with sumptuous classical orchestration. On stage at the Royal College of Music, Burstein gave the audience some insights into its creation. An early memory of his father playing accordion…
Sound design: Xuefei Yang & Ning Feng, Wigmore Hall, London, UK
Always grateful for a chance to hear guitarist Xuefei Yang play live, I was especially keen to catch this fascinating programme developed in collaboration with violinist Ning Feng. As part of Wigmore Hall’s series of hour-long Sunday morning recitals, it was compact yet wide-ranging: a perfect opportunity to escape the glue-like British humidity into the…
Musical moment: Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, ‘1901’, Wigmore Hall, London, UK
2026 marks Wigmore Hall’s 125th anniversary, and the venue has been celebrating its birth year in style, with a fortnight-long festival of over 20 concerts. This jewel among them took us back to when the Hall opened its doors, with every song featured dating back to 1901. Followers of this duo will already be familiar…
