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 — Trombone graphs, music that morphs into forests – two artists redraw Iannis Xenakis's aural vision in a one-off concert and installation. Tim Rutherford-Johnson looks and listensThere is a photograph, taken in the late 1970s, of Iannis Xenakis demo... more info

Idolator — 3OH!3 unveiled the music video to their masterful modern day answer to Beethoven’s Fifth symphony, the Ke$ha-assisted summer jam “My First Kiss.” And like many first kisses, it is embarrassing and uncomfortable for all involved. Watch below. 3O... more info

ContactMusic — BEETHOVEN has 'bitten' OLD YELLER to be named Hollywood's top dog in a new online poll.The beloved St. Bernard character picked up 28 per cent of the vote when 13,500... more info

The Telegraph — Viktoria Mullova (violin), Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano). Rating: * * * * * more info

L.A. Times - News — Gustavo Dudamel's remarkable first campaign with the Philharmonic was as exciting for its sheer adventurousness as for the conductor's promising future. On Oct... more info

Guardian Music — Assembly Rooms, BathThe indefatigable Arditti Quartet gave the first performance of Harrison Birtwistle's The Tree of Strings two years ago. Since then it has become a regular part of their repertoire, and their performance of it has become ever more... more info

All About Jazz — Scientists began speculating about what really killed Ludwig van Beethoven almost as soon as he was buried in 1827. He had complained of a wretched existence, with a long list of symptoms: abdominal pain, digestive trouble, colic, chronic bronchit... more info

Guardian Music — Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonYou can programme a dream concert series as far in advance as you like, but you can never ensure it actually happens. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's Beethoven cycle had already lost Charles Mackerras from last... more info

Guardian Music — Andres/Kaplan(Nonesuch)Timothy Andres is the latest young composer (born in 1985) to burst on to the new-music scene from New York, trailing garlands of praise in his wake. Trained at the Juilliard School and Yale University, Andres is unquestionably... more info