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Richard Osborne

Richard Osborne

Richard Osborne is a writer and former presenter for BBC Radio 3. His books include biographies of Rossini and Herbert von Karajan, a history of the music and musicians of Eton, Garsington Opera: a celebration and The Grange, Hampshire. A reviewer for Gramophone since 1973, he has contributed a music column to every issue of The Oldie since its foundation in 1992.

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Articles & Blogs

Music. By Richard Osborne. The Decline and Fall of Radio 3.
Blog | By Richard Osborne | Jul 10, 2025

Music. By Richard Osborne. The Decline and Fall of Radio 3.

Music. By Richard Osborne. The Decline and Fall of Radio 3.
Ravel's L'Heure espagnole - Richard Osborne
Arts | By Richard Osborne

Ravel's L'Heure espagnole - Richard Osborne

Richard Osborne comes to grips with the summer festival season - or what remains of it - while he celebrates the online alternatives that work, the short but very sweet L'Heure espagnole.

Music: Bach at Christmas
Arts | By Richard Osborne

Music: Bach at Christmas

First it was designer bathrooms where it can take an age amid the artfully elegant chrome fittings to discover how to turn a tap on. Now it’s CD covers. I mention this because few could deduce from the cover of John Eliot Gardiner’s newest CD with the Monteverdi Choir that it contains the original version of one of Bach’s most life-enhancing works and the Christmas context that inspired it.
Music: Monteverdi at 450
Arts | By Richard Osborne

Music: Monteverdi at 450
Music: Richard Osborne reviews Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Arts | By Richard Osborne

Music: Richard Osborne reviews Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District

‘In these parts, one occasionally comes across individuals of such character that, no matter how many years have passed, one cannot recall them without experiencing an inward tremor.’ So begins Nikolai Leskov’s exquisitely crafted yet harrowing 1865 novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.
Music: Richard Osborne reviews Tristan und Isolde, Pelléas et Mélisande, Il turco in Italia and Jenufa
Arts | By Richard Osborne

Music: Richard Osborne reviews Tristan und Isolde, Pelléas et Mélisande, Il turco in Italia and Jenufa

A step in the right direction for British Opera
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