Mad, bad and brilliant. We explore the rise and fall of the Romantics.

The March 2015 issue of Limelight hits the newsstands today, available at retailers across Australia and digitally through Zinio.

Cover Feature: The Incurable Romantics



They burned brightly, argued passionately and died mad, disillusioned or worse. But who were the Romantics? Beethoven was their God, but did they have a revolutionary plan? And what is it about their music that makes it more popular than ever today?

John Bell at 75

John Bell may be retiring but he’s not throwing in the towel. We take a look at the man and his music, with a little help from his friends.

Primitive Urges

Andrew Ford explains why the revolutionary Russians knew a thing or two when it came to giving their music a bit of a roughing up.

Mad About The Girl

Diana Damrau and Emma Matthews join us to investigate why Donizetti’s poor, crazy Lucia di Lammermoor still gets us going gaga.

An American In Paris

A tête-a-tête with William Christie, the American early music pioneer whose Baroque revolution showed the French how to be French.

Reviews 

Classical CD, DVD, book and live concert reviews, including Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen’s anything goes approach to Bach’s B Minor Mass; Chailly’s startling Mahler interpretation breathes new life into an open and shut case; first-rate American performances from Del Sol Quartet of some very Australian music; Maurizio Pollini completes a Beethoven cycle that’s been 40 years in the making; Grétry’s livelyEgyptian romp offers listeners an exotic night at the Classical opera; and Roger Woodward presents much more than a dot-to-dot musical (auto)biography.

The Limelight Classical Chart

Exclusive to Limelight, this chart ranks the top 20 best-selling classical CDs and DVDs according to monthly sales figures drawn from Australia’s leading classical specialist stores. Unlike other charts, Limelight’s specially assembled list admits only pure classical releases.

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