Archive
The complete Open Letters Monthly Archive.
John Blow has forever lived in the shadow of Henry Purcell, his former student. His musical response to the Purcell's death was partly competitive – others were also producing Purcell laments – but also discernably personal.
Read More"We can pour anything into it - any fear or catastrophe or yearning, any warning" - music both fills our lives and helps to shape them. But what happens if music starts, slowly, haltingly, to go away? A harrowing personal essay.
Read MoreAnthony Burgess the novelist had dreams of being a composer. He had little success, but along the way he delved deep into the nature and meaning of music.
Read MoreA sprawling new biography looks at both the quotidian day to day life and the pivotal music of the "cute" Beatle, Paul McCartney.
Read MoreThe present album brings together the super-mezzo Cecilia Bartoli and cellist Sol Gabetta. It is as good as it gets, until you realize that you can get too much of a good thing.
Read MoreSome records grab you by the ears, others take longer to impress. It is in no sense to Krystian Zimerman’s discredit that his first attempt at late Schubert took three spins on my deck before I grasped the originality of his interpretation.
Read MoreThe need for a new-gen recording of Berlioz’s epic opera Les Troyens is pressing. A new release aims for the crown and hits its mark.
Read MoreThis first album of George Martin's orchestral music and film scores, elegantly played by Craig Leon’s Berlin’s Music Ensemble, gives us an opportunity to see what might have been going on behind George’s determinedly bland musical façade.
Read MoreGiorgio Vasari, the author of a fundamental and beloved collection of the lives of Renaissance artists, here gets a lively and readable biography of his own.
Read MoreThe five Divertimentos that make up the bulk of this release date from the 1930s to 1950s and, rooted in folk dances, are determinedly upbeat. You’d never know that Hitler and Stalin were banging at the door.
Read MoreDaniil Trifonov thinks nothing of coming on stage with one wrist in a bandage, no explanation offered, or of asking the audience not to applaud at any time through a 90-minute recital, so it would be absurd to expect him to release a conventional Chopin album.
Read MoreNoa Wildschut first appeared on Dutch television at six years old and at the Concertgebouw a year later. She's 16 now, old enough to take a bit of criticism and interesting enough to warrant adult consideration.
Read MoreScriabin, as he so often does, takes us to the brink only to skitter away on some frivolity. But there is much to enjoy here, so long as you don’t expect too much.
Read MoreBruce Springsteen's therapist was one of the inspirations for his memoir Born to Run. Does the book help him make sense of his transformation from wild and innocent rock 'n' roller to millionaire icon?
Read MoreMichael Johnson interviews Jack Kohl, a Juilliard-trained pianist who also finds challenge and inspiration in writing fiction.
Read MoreTwo new books - a biography of one of Broadway's brightest stars and a memoir from one of its lesser lights - bring the world of American stage and screen vividly to life.
Read Morea poem
Read MoreEven today, women composers still struggle for recognition. Michael Johnson explores the life and work of the unjustly forgotten Germaine Tailleferre.
Read MoreA new single-volume biography captures the oversized life of legendary composer and pianist Franz Liszt
Read MoreSome of Johann Sebastian Bach's most glorious music is also some of the most intimidating to modern audiences; a new book introduces readers to the masses and oratorios of the master.
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