Everyone Can Love Classical Music

The piano is the most important instrument in classical music. Every composer  wrote music for the piano, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Chopin etc. We are fortunate that the great composers produced much of their best music for the piano.

The BBC Proms is the world’s greatest festival of classical music, it features the best singers and musicians from around the world. This year’s season runs from Friday 17 July to Saturday 12 September.  In this podcast I highlight ten Proms from this year’s season which will appeal to those who don’t see themselves as experts on classical music, including those who perhaps have never been to a classical concert

George Frideric Handel was born in Germany but is very much regarded as a British composer. He composed his greatest works while living in London. Best known for his operas and oratorios, including the greatest ever, the Messiah

In this podcast I present 20 pieces of classical music which I think will appeal to children and will hopefully introduce them to the wonderful world of classical music. Each piece tells a story which will make it easy for children to relate to the music This is "grown-up" classical music, not music written specifically for children. Included are orchestral pieces, symphonies, concertos, ballets and opera.

Gerard Finzi was an English composer who wrote music that is serene, introspective, gentle, elegiac and above all very beautiful. It portrays the unrivalled beauty of the English countryside.

In this podcast I present some of the most romantic music ever written, from opera, ballet, orchestral and choral.

The good news is you can enjoy classical music in London without spending large amounts of money, especially now given the cost-of-living crisis is affecting so many people – both London residents and visitors. In this podcast I list the London venues offering classical music and I highlight the ways you can enjoy this music inexpensively.

This podcast tells the story of Maria Callas, the greatest soprano that ever lived - no question. We hear of her successful but turbulent career, her sad and unhappy love life, and lonely death. We also hear Callas sing 15 wonderful arias and duets

The greatest mezzo-soprano of the 20th century, admired the for the beauty and sensitivity of her singing in opera, lieder recitals, oratorio and choral works

Features wonderful, revolutionary ballets by Prokofiev, Ravel, Stravinsky, Copland, Vaughan Williams, Khatchaturian and Manuel de Falla