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BBC Proms 2026
Season coverage — previews and reviews as the season unfolds
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Lucas and Arthur Jussen join the CBSO and Kazuki Yamada for Poulenc’s two-piano concerto and John Adams’s choral masterwork Harmonium.
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John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic in Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra — with violinist Sueye Park in the Sibelius Concerto and a new work from Betsy Jolas.
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The Spanish National Orchestra and guitarist Rafael Aguirre bring Ravel’s Boléro, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, and Falla to the Royal Albert Hall.
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Yunchan Lim opens the BBC Proms 2026 with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G — plus Gershwin, Copland, a Finzi rarity, and a world premiere from Josephine Stephenson.
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Gianandrea Noseda conducts the BBC Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Ninth, with a UK premiere from Jessie Montgomery and cello soloist Abel Selaocoe.
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Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler’s Sixth Symphony — one of the most unrelenting works in the repertoire — alongside György Kurtág’s Stele.
NEWS, REVIEWs, & LATEST
Concerts, albums, and video reviews. Familiar, unfamiliar, plus stuff fresh out of the packaging.
Review – Carducci Quartet play Kurtag, Clarke, Reich and Debussy at Aldeburgh Festival 2026
The Carducci Quartet brought Kurtág, Reich, Clarke and Debussy to the Britten Studio for a programme spanning a century of…
Review – Kristian Bezuidenhout plays Schubert at Aldeburgh Festival 2026
The idea of hearing any Schubert piano music on a modern piano now feels like a shameful act of betrayal…
Review – Schubert Quintet at Aldeburgh Festival 2026
We came for Schubert. What we got was something rarer….
Podcast: 233 – ‘Belly of the Beast’: Mahogany Opera and Dunedin Consort at Edinburgh, Aldeburgh and Spitalfields 2026
Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre isn’t a name many will recognise — despite an opera that reached the Paris stage…
Review – Freya Waley-Cohen’s ‘The Dreamer’ at Aldeburgh Festival 2026
Generous, disciplined, written for exactly the player performing it — Aldeburgh’s world premiere doesn’t cower….
Review – English Baroque Soloists ‘Haydn in London’ at St Martin in the Fields
Peter Whelan and the English Baroque Soloists at St Martin in the Fields: energy, jeopardy, and a second half worth…
Opinion – The BBC needs to save £500m. Classical music is not exempt.
Even if the BBC needs to save £500m, it won’t announce culling Radio 3 or the Proms, especially before the…
Podcast: 231 – Adrian Brendel and Tree of Strings
Cellist Adrian Brendel on his new festival, the Birtwistle story behind its name, and a conversation about Alfred Brendel that…
thoroughly good classical music podcast
Interviews with composers, musicians and producers about the music they love.
233: Belly of the Beast at Aldeburgh, Spitalfields and Edinburgh – Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast
- 233: Belly of the Beast at Aldeburgh, Spitalfields and Edinburgh
- 228 Repeat: Aldeburgh & Snape, 50 Years After Britten's Death
- 232: Adrian Brendel on Tree of Strings
- 231: Bergen International Festival's Lars Petter Hagen
- 230: Franco Fagioli
- 229: Christophe Rousset on Lully, Mozart, and playing with rules
- 228: Aldeburgh & Snape 50 years after Britten's Death
- 227: Claire Booth
- 226: Huw Watkins
- 224: Lizzie Ball
opinion
Thoroughly Good thoughts and reflections on the classical music industry.
Opinion – The BBC needs to save £500m. Classical music is not exempt.
Even if the BBC needs to save £500m, it won’t announce culling Radio 3 or the Proms, especially before the…
Wigmore Hall Live on Apple Classical
Wigmore Hall Live is on Apple Classical. Yay….
Daniel Harding and Elim Chan?
Two US orchestra appointments have raised an eyebrow….
dispatches
Stories from in and around where music is heard.
New Year’s Day Concert 2026
Monday can wait. New Year needs to be gently ushered in by stylish people in stylish surroundings….
Notes on Listening
After a day immersed in figures and forecasts, stepping into Wigmore Hall feels like surfacing for air. Here, the discipline…
The Wrong Boat to Venice
A trip to Venice to review a festival. Yet, somewhere between the wrong boat, the gondoliers and a memory from…
beyond classical music on thoroughly good
More writing on books, television, and the arts.
Podcast: Aldeburgh, Snape & Britten’s festival 50 years after his death
Fifty years after Britten’s death, Aldeburgh and Snape still honour the composer’s legacy. But how has the site, the Festival…
New Year’s Day Concert 2026
Monday can wait. New Year needs to be gently ushered in by stylish people in stylish surroundings….
Review – BBC Proms 2025: The Traitors Prom
Brand tie-ins at the Proms can be clumsy, but The Traitors Prom proved how a crossover event can work. Packed…
Classical Music | TV | Books
Reviews, insights, and opinions about classical music. Supporting the industry with digital content, leadership training, and consultancy.