Guardian Music — Various venuesThere's hardly a festival this year that isn't homing in on the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth, but Cheltenham's focuses on his mental illness and that of three other composers, Gesualdo, Wolf and Mahler, whose anniversaries also... more info

Guardian Music — Coliseum, LondonA new ailment seems to be affecting UK opera productions at present. One might call it extra-itis. Its principal symptom consists in annoying audiences by filling the stage with lots of people whom the composer never intended should b... more info

MTV.com News — 'Drake: Better Than Good Enough' airs Wednesday, June 23, at 10 p.m. on MTV.By Shaheem Reid Drake Photo: MTV News An early cut of the documentary "Drake: Better Than Good Enough," airing Wednesday at 10 p.m. on MTV, was screened for hip-hop... more info

Guardian Music — Gregynog festivalFlautist Adam Walker is a stunning talent. At 22, he plays with the artistry of a performer of maturer years, and this opening recital of the Gwyl Gregynog festival, given with pianist Huw Watkins, showed what an exciting prospect he... more info

Guardian Music — Sage, GatesheadNobody writes concerti grossi any more, which is a pity, as there is much vitality to the baroque form perfected by Handel, Corelli and Bach, whose Brandenburg Suites are concerti grossi in all but name. Simon Bainbridge calls the Nort... more info

Guardian Music — In one memorable line in MacArthur Park, Richard Harris sang of being pressed in love's hot fevered iron like a striped pair of pantsDriving through the US last year, I became a touch obsessed with a run of stations I found on the car radio, each pla... more info

Guardian Music — Some of the most beautiful music of the last two centuries has been written for the piano. George Benjamin sets out the challenges today's composers face while writing for this strange tuned percussion instrumentThe piano is a strange instrument. The... more info

Guardian Music — Holland Park, LondonPelléas et Mélisande isn't ideal for Opera Holland Park. Though much of it takes place out of doors, it doesn't lend itself easily to an open-air theatre. Debussy's soundworld is so hermetically self-contained that the extraneou... more info

L.A. Times - Entertainment — The Weinstein Company's "Blue Valentine" debuted Tuesday night to a five-minute standing ovation at the Debussy Theatre. more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonJames MacMillan's recent music has been at its best when at its least didactic. His Violin Concerto, written for Vadim Repin, who gave its premiere with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, avoids sermonising in favour of... more info