FROM ROME: From December 2009 until March 2023, the late Giuseppe Pennisi sent us regular reports from the Italian opera and classical music scene.
DISCUSSION: John Dante Prevedini leads a discussion about Improvisation in the classical world and beyond, including contributions from David Arditti, James Lewitzke, James Ross and Steve Vasta.
A child prodigy, the English composer and organist William Crotch was born 5 July in Norwich in 1775. He played the organ from 4, wrote an oratorio at 14, and the following year became organist at Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford. He composed prolifically and was the first Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London. He died in Taunton on 29 December 1847.