Bachtrack

12/07/2025

Today we mark 140 years since the birth of the English composer George Butterworth on 12th July 1885.

But tragically he never made it anywhere near that age, dying at the age of 31 on 5th August 1916 in Pozières, France, during the Battle of the Somme.

Having been awarded the Military Cross for bravery in battle only a fortnight before, his brigade commander, Brigadier General Page Croft, wrote that he was "A brilliant musician in times of peace, and an equally brilliant soldier in times of stress."

A great friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, we have Butterworth to thank for RVW's symphonies, particularly the London Symphony, which he not only convinced RVW to write but also helped to reconstruct it after the original manuscript was lost.

11/07/2025

11th July in Sweden has proved to be an auspicious day, producing not one but two classical music legends. 🇸🇪

One, the conductor Herbert Blomstedt, turns 98 today, and is still entrancing the world on the podium (see our previous post!).

The other is the great tenor Nicolai Gedda, born on this day in 1925, 100 years ago. He died in 2017, but also had an unusually long career (for a singer), retiring from the stage in 2003 at the age of 77.

Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history. Known for his heaven-sent voice, he was as admired in concerts and recitals as he was on the opera stage.

Thank you, Sweden, for your gifts to music!

11/07/2025

The BBC Proms opens in London a week today.

We've already shared our pick of the first half of the season, and now we've taken a deep dive 🤿 into the second half from mid-August to the Last Night on 13th September.

With Vienna Philharmonic / Wiener Philharmoniker and Gewandhausorchester returning to the Proms for the first time since the 2020 pandemic, the second half looks especially juicy for orchestral music lovers! 🔗👇

📸 © BBC / Mark Allan

11/07/2025

Today we celebrate the 98th birthday of conductor Herbert Blomstedt. Still active, still touring, still entrancing orchestras and audiences alike.

Chapeau, maestro 🫡

📸 © Paul Yates

10/07/2025

Happy birthday Jonas Kaufmann! Many happy returns of the day. 🎂

📸 © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music

09/07/2025

PIANISTS! 🎹 EXTENDED COMPETITION DEADLINE 👇

The Festival Ljubljana International Competition – Piano 2026 has extended its deadline for applications to 20th July 2025.

The competition is a triennial event in Slovenia open to professional pianists of all nationalities born between 1995 and 2009 (i.e. aged 16-30).

Prizes on offer include a 50,000EUR cash prize and recital and orchestral engagements.

Get all the details and links to enter via the 🔗👇

08/07/2025

At the end of July, 新国立劇場バレエ団　The National Ballet of Japan comes to the Royal Opera House in London for the first time.

Our Dance Editor Deb Weiss spoke to artistic director Miyako Yoshida, herself a former Principal with Royal Ballet And Opera and Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), about passing on her experiences, working with the great ballet names, and the challenges of working conditions for dancers in Japan. 🔗👇

📸 © Jörgen Axelvall

07/07/2025

Gustav Mahler was born on this day, 7th July, in 1860.

“Anyone who has committed such a deed deserves a couple of years in prison,” said one critic, after attending the premiere of his Third Symphony. His work was not always appreciated in his lifetime, but the symphonies in particular are now mainstays of orchestral seasons.

Our Top Ten playlist is 70% symphony. But which three (let's say we're counting the Tenth!) didn't make the list?

His symphonies are now mainstays of orchestra seasons, but during his lifetime Gustav Mahler was more famous as a rigorous conductor, his music misunderstood and scorned.

06/07/2025

Happy "piano" 🎹 birthday (88 😉) to the great pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, born 6th July 1937.

04/07/2025

There has been rather mixed reviews for Royal Ballet And Opera's current staging of Handel's Semele in the opera press, but our reviewer David Karlin saw a multitude of good points, especially in Pretty Yende’s performance in the title role: "who knew that Pretty Yende sings Handel as if she has been doing so since the cradle?"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from David. Read in full in the comments 👇

📸 © The Royal Opera | Camilla Greenwell

03/07/2025

Born in the Moravian village of Hukvaldy on 3rd July 1854, Leoš Janáček was the son of a schoolmaster. He was educated in nearby Brno and later in Prague, Leipzig and Vienna, returning to Brno to marry his pupil Zdenka Schulzová and earning a living as a music teacher.

His early musical life was unremarkable, and it wasn’t until relative old age that he achieved renown, especially during his final decade when his greatest works were composed.

Here are ten to explore, as good a way as any to mark his 251st 😆 birthday.

Janáček was heavily influenced by folk music and speech inflections of his native Moravia. The vast majority of his greatest works come from his final decade, inspired by his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová.

02/07/2025

“Happy feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring”
“A Scandinavian Choral March”
“Impromptu”

Or as we now know it, Finlandia!

Jean Sibelius' patriotic tone poem was premiered on this day, 2nd July 1900.

Full story 👉

Celebrating 100 years of Finnish independence, we look at the story of Sibelius's Finlandia.