Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach’s St Matthew Passion: ‘When you’re unpacking a role like the Evangelist, it’s so vast, so enormous’

The tenor Gavan Ring on the work that he’ll be singing at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Good Friday afternoon

Comparing notes – Derek Scally on Bach and Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva

An Irishman’s Diary

Germany considers mandatory Covid vaccinations as new curbs announced

Vaccine holdouts will be denied access to most shops, restaurants and cultural venues

I’d Love To Turn You On review – How David Bowie, the Beatles and others stole from the great composers

This compilation is a valuable reminder that even the most celebrated musicians didn’t think it all up on their own

Nicolas Godin: Concrete and Glass review – Immersive electronica

Woozy experimentation with gentle synth flurries provide warmth and heart

The two best classical music shows to see this week

Didzis Kalnins and Gyula Nagy, Judit Máté

Your idea of musical hell? – a Q&A for composers and musicians

International performers coming to Louth’s Stations of the Sun festival are put on the spot

Rethinking stereotypes about science and the arts

Unthinkable: Prof Tom McLeish identifies eight stages of creation common to disciplines as diverse as painting and biology

Polkas for pink elephants: this week’s best classical concerts

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Johnny Gandelsman and Stravinsky’s circus music

The mathematician’s patterns, like those of the composer, must be beautiful

Philippe Sands: The Nazis, human rights and me

‘Genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ remain real threats with advent of Brexit and Trump

Air’s Nicolas Godin on why his solo album is a bad idea

One of France’s great electronic innovators has ignored his own advice and made a solo record. ‘When you’re in band, there’s always a sense of frustration’

Culture Shock: And so to bed . . . the nightmare of sleepless nights

The way we sleep, and when we sleep, has been altered by human invention – from pills to alarm clocks – but most profoundly by artificial light

Kilkenny Arts Festival goes back to Bach and the shock of the old

Shakespeare, Dante and Bach feature in a programme that’s strong on the classics