<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!-- generator="" --> <?xml-stylesheet href="/components/com_sppagebuilder/assets/css/dynamic-content.css?db0eb064dd605d51126ac7a52bb9f826" type="text/css"?> <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> <channel> <title>Music</title> <description><![CDATA[Martin Randall Travel is the leading specialist in cultural tours, with over 300 tours and events in 50 different countries. Contact us for more information.]]></description> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news</link> <lastBuildDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2026 03:25:35 +0000</lastBuildDate> <generator></generator> <atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/music?format=feed&type=rss"/> <language>en-us</language> <item> <title>In conversation with Robert Hollingworth</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/in-conversation-with-robert-hollingworth</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/in-conversation-with-robert-hollingworth</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt=""></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:23:58 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>A shared musical world: Martin Randall Travel and Wigmore Hall</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/wigmore-hall-partnership</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/wigmore-hall-partnership</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/images/RS3958_f_KK_03907_2_wb2.jpg" alt="" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy"></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 10:06:34 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>Roaring for Oratorio: an interview with Paul McCreesh</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/roaring-for-oratorio-2</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/roaring-for-oratorio-2</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt="Sam Walker ©"></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:33:06 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>In conversation with Katy Hamilton</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/in-conversation-with-katy-hamilton</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/in-conversation-with-katy-hamilton</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt="©Ben Ealovega"></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:03:58 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>J.S. Bach from Birth to Death</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/j-s-bach-from-birth-to-death</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/j-s-bach-from-birth-to-death</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt=""></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:09:41 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>Our new festival, 'Handel in Malta' – by Lizzie Watson</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/our-new-festival-handel-in-malta-by-lizzie-watson</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/our-new-festival-handel-in-malta-by-lizzie-watson</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt=""></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:05:30 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>A musical journey in Prague with Dr Michael Downes</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/prague-spring-with-michael-downes</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/prague-spring-with-michael-downes</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt=""></p><h4>Prague is steeped in music. Its compact centre contains exquisite theatres, two great concert halls – the Smetana Hall in the city’s historic Obecní dům and the magnificent Rudolfinum – and beautiful churches with wonderful acoustics, including the 13th-century Convent of St Agnes. The great Czech composers featured in this year’s Prague Spring festival who lived and worked in the city include Bedřich Smetana, whose unique contribution to Czech culture is celebrated in the National Museum’s special bicentenary exhibition, and Bohuslav Martinů, who played violin in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra before achieving fame in Paris and the United States.</h4> <p>It is not only Czech-born musicians who have contributed to the extraordinary richness of the city’s musical life. Thanks to Prague’s position as a major city of the Habsburg Empire, many of Europe’s leading composers were drawn here too. Mozart adored Prague and was adored in return: ‘Nothing is talked about except <em>Figaro</em>; nothing is played, blown, sung, whistled except <em>Figaro</em>’, he marvelled to a Viennese friend during his first visit in 1787. He returned in 1791 in the final months of his life to produce an opera for the Prague coronation of Joseph’s successor, Leopold II. <em>La clemenza di Tito</em> was composed almost simultaneously with the haunting Requiem which concludes the final concert of <a href="https://www.martinrandall.com/tours/prague-spring" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="color: #993366;">our tour</span></a>.</p> <p><img src="https://rezkit-tour-images.b-cdn.net/01hksy5ph4yavzwqw83za2gq9v/images/01JJ24JKZ41A16FG8FYKE2XA9W.jpg?width=928&height=600&crop_gravity=center&aspect_ratio=928:600" alt="" width="750" height="482" /><br />Interior of <em>Obencí dům</em>, Stephen Rabold ©</p> <p>Later in the same decade, the young Beethoven visited Prague three times, hoping to emulate Mozart’s success. In 1798 he performed his newly composed First Piano Concerto, which Pierre-Laurent Aimard will play in this year’s festival in a concert also featuring the mighty Fifth Symphony. Parts for that symphony including Beethoven’s hand-written annotations can be seen at the magnificent palace of his patron, Prince Lobkowicz, perched high above the city among the buildings of Prague Castle. In 1885, meanwhile, Gustav Mahler, whose monumental Sixth Symphony begins our musical programme, came to Prague as musical director of the German theatres and enjoyed the experience so much that he tried to extract himself from a contract in Leipzig in order to remain longer. Mahler introduced Prague audiences to Wagner’s <em>Ring</em>, and conducted in the beautiful Estates Theatre, where <em>Don Giovanni</em> was premiered and which we will see on a private visit during our tour.</p> <p>The Prague Spring Festival was founded in 1946 under the guidance of Czechoslovakia’s President, Edvard Beneš. It is now celebrating its eightieth edition and invariably attracts the world’s best musicians and orchestras – including, for our first concert, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden. Experiencing music-making of this quality while discovering Prague’s architectural wonders in the company of our expert guide, Martina Hinks-Edwards, is a heady combination, as I discovered when leading my first MRT tour to the festival in 2023. I am thrilled to be returning this year and hope you will be able to join us.</p> <p><a href="https://www.martinrandall.com/tours/prague-spring">Find out more about the <i>Prague Spring Festival</i>, which departs 12 to 18 May 2026</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.martinrandall.com/about/expert-speakers/dr-michael-downes" target="_blank">View tours led by Dr Michael Downes</a></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2025 15:01:23 +0000</pubDate> </item> <item> <title>Looking back: behind the scenes at 'Music in Bologna' – by Lizzie Watson</title> <link>https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/behind-the-scenes-at-music-in-bologna</link> <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.martinrandall.com/en-gb/news/behind-the-scenes-at-music-in-bologna</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://www.martinrandall.com/" alt=""></p>]]></description> <category>Blog</category> <pubDate>Sun, 01 Dec 2024 16:47:51 +0000</pubDate> </item> </channel> </rss>