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Thoroughly Good is an independent home for classical music commentary, reflection, and criticism — mildly obsessive, resolutely independent, and dedicated to the act of deep listening.

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BBC Proms 2025: First Night of the Proms 2025

Review and reflections from the first night of the BBC Proms, with original photography, streaming links, and Thoroughly Good introductions.

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EDITORS PICK

Review – Dunedin Consort’s Markus Passion at Aldeburgh Festival 2025

Bach’s Markus-Passion from Dunedin Consort: phenomenal, enthralling, and profound

Review – Colin Matthews’ A Visit to Friends

A beautifully coordinated work, craft and musical ingenuity, easy to admire, with a hint of ambiguity thrown in too.

The orchestra at the hospital bedside: why this podcast had to be different

Documenting the Britten Sinfonia’s collaboration with NHS Foundation Arts Residency at Addenbrooke’s Hospital for the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast.

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LATEST POSTS

BBC Proms 2025: First Night of the Proms 2025

Review and reflections from the first night of the BBC Proms, with original photography, streaming links, and Thoroughly Good introductions.

Opinion: music education deserves better than this

An article about a family spending £150,000 on music lessons plays to the gallery of outrage — but overlooks what really matters: the quiet disappearance of accessible, public music education, and the values it instils in young people.

The Benedetti Model: Leadership in Practice and Performance

Inside a values-driven programme that stretches across the country and highlights what the state still fails to deliver.

Five concerts to listen out for this week at BBC Proms 2025

Memorable tunes, big sounds, and electric experiences guaranteed to touch the soul of even the most skeptical of Proms virgins.

GOOD CONCERTS

CONCERT REVIEWS

The Benedetti Model: Leadership in Practice and Performance

Inside a values-driven programme that stretches across the country and highlights what the state still fails to deliver.

Review – Santiago Sanchez and Victoria Guerroro at Cheltenham Festival

Poise, elegance, and youthful charm: tenor Santiago Sanchez and pianist Victoria Guerrero shine in their Cheltenham Music Festival debut — Sanchez with tender clarity, Guerrero with delicious precision.

Review – Guitarist Alexandra Whittingham at Cheltenham Festival

Warmth, wit, and astonishing control from a guitarist who makes silence sing.

Review – Giorgi Gigashvili at Cheltenham Festival

Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, who ends his time on the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme this year, is an exciting performer with flair whose musicianship shines brightest in moments of intimacy and reflection.

Review – Anibal Vidal’s Theatre of Origins premiered at Spitalfields Festival

Vocalists strike, blow, and sing their way through a vivid retelling of Creation in Aníbal Vidal’s Theatre of Origins, premiered at Spitalfields Festival.

Leila Josefowicz and Sakari Oramo with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival 2025

Review – BBC Symphony at Aldeburgh Festival 2025

Two standout evenings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the 2025 Aldeburgh Festival, featuring new works by Kidane, Grimes, and Elias alongside Strauss, Britten and Sibelius. Virtuosity, ambition, and moments of startling clarity across the weekend — with Leila Josefowicz and Allan Clayton especially compelling.

Review – Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra perform Kidane, Turnage and Nielsen at Aldeburgh Festival

Turnage, Nielsen, and Kidane: bold sounds, sharp messages, and orchestral firepower

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bbc proms 2025

BBC Proms 2025: First Night of the Proms 2025

Review and reflections from the first night of the BBC Proms, with original photography, streaming links, and Thoroughly Good introductions.

Five concerts to listen out for this week at BBC Proms 2025

Memorable tunes, big sounds, and electric experiences guaranteed to touch the soul of even the most skeptical of Proms virgins.

5 concerts from BBC Proms 2025 for FIRST TIMERS

Memorable tunes, big sounds, and electric experiences guaranteed to touch the soul of even the most skeptical of Proms virgins.

11 UNMISSABLE BBC Proms to Book or Stream in 2025

This selection of twelve unmissable concerts is for anyone who’s looking for the exhilaration of live performance and big bold classical tunes. No previous knowledge necessary.

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