Simon Rattle's farewell concert with the London Symphony Orchestra was, of course, Mahler's Ninth Symphony, the farewell of all farewells. But on a happier note, Rattle led a performance of Benjamin ...

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. At the time of his death Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto was a relative rarity, whether in concerts or ...

It might seem odd to begin a collection called "Unknown Britten" with Les ­Illuminations, perhaps the best known of his early works. But this performance, taken from a Northern Sinfonia concert with ...

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. The Britten centenary is turning into a CD bonanza. Hot on the heels of Ian Bostridge’s song anthology comes this ...

The Britten centenary year is turning out to be just the excuse we needed to revisit not only the composer's familiar masterpieces but some of his lesser-known music as well. This week began with ...

Chandos's Britten recording (left) is an all-British affair. The Onyx recording of the Violin Concerto brings together a Canadian soloist, a Ukrainian conductor and a British orchestra for a ...

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Baiba Skride, Violin Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Conductor Double Concerto for Violin and Viola Baiba Skride, Violin Ivan Vukčević, Viola Vienna ...

The young Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (AHNDS-nayss) has been impressing the music world by (a) playing brilliantly, in a variety of repertoire, and (b) demonstrating a certain healthy distaste ...

In parallel with his series of discs of British clarinet sonatas for Chandos, Michael Collins is also working his way through the home-grown concertos for his instrument. A first volume included works ...

The 25-year-old Benjamin Britten's self-described "bravura" Piano Concerto of 1938 attracted early critical brickbats for its "angry blatancy," "cleverness" and "errors of taste". His 1939 "rather ...