´óÏó´«Ã½

In the first of this week’s reviews, a new book on some of opera's psychologically flawed characters, like Otello, Don Giovanni, Peter Grimes and Werther. The book's called 'Disordered Heroes in Opera: A Psychiatric Report', and was written by psychiatrist John Cordingly - we talk to him to assess who’s mad, bad or sad, and to see how difficult it is to analyse stage characters. We review the book with Elaine Padmore, former Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, and opera director David Alden, who has directed on stage almost all of the characters involved. 

More Information:

For 45 years, Finchcocks Musical Museum has been open to the public to view and play their collection of historic keyboard instruments. Yesterday, owners Katrina and Richard Burnett closed the museum, so Music Matters visited the museum in Kent to hear some of the instruments and the stories from the house, and find out what’s next for the collection, as some of the instruments will be sold in auction. Tom spoke to David Owen Norris, an expert on historical keyboards, to get his reaction on the closing of the museum.

More information:

'The Other Classical Musics: Fifteen Great Traditions', explores World Music including folk traditions from the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, the Far East, South-East Asia and North America. We talk to the book's editor, Michael Church and learn why in his eyes these musics must be regarded as classical. We also hear from World Music experts Robin Denselow and Jane Cornwell, who review the book.

More information:

In another of our regular soapboxes, we invite Matthew Herbert, a composer and producer working in electronic music. As he begins a week-long residency at Metal arts centre in Liverpool, Matthew discusses the relationship between composers and audiences, as seen from his perspective.

Let us know what you think about the issues raised on the Soapbox – email musicmatters@bbc.co.uk

More information: