Handel’s Rivalries and Musical Rebellion It’s easy to think of Handel as the all-conquering hero, arriving in London from his Italian adventures, and commanding the operatic scene for the rest of his life. While any passer-by on the streets of London would instantly know Handel’s name, his crown was not without its challengers. Foremost amongst these was the Opera of …

Imagine picking all the best bits of your favourite pop, rock, hip-hop, and jazz stars and combining them into one fantastical package, a bit like your fantasy football team. How great would that be?

There are plenty of mysteries out there in the musical world: the two heads inside Haydn’s tomb, the enigma behind Elgar’s variations. But what of the gruesome murder of poor Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764)?

It’s the mother of all bad hair days for Scylla in Leclair’s only opera. Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Scylla is just a nymph going about her business. Not especially interested in love, she rejects the advances of shepherds and anyone else that thinks they’re in with a shot of winning her heart.

Secret agent, prisoner, playwright and poet. Clearly there was never a dull moment in the life of this 17th century International Woman of Mystery.

Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) extraordinary piece The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra has been a favourite of education schemes and family orchestral concerts for years.

Britten pinched one of Henry Purcell’s (1659-1695) themes and used it to explore the sections of the huge modern symphony orchestra in an imaginative series of variations.