Classical music can help us perform better in exams, study reveals

Listening to classical music during lectures and throughout the night while sleeping may help us perform better in big exams, a new study suggests. US economics students who listened to Beethoven and Chopin during a lecture and again later in the night performed 18 per cent higher in exams the next day. This compared with … Read more

A classical music-themed river cruise along the Danube to Vienna and Budapest hits the right notes

No one pretends that river cruise ships are pretty things. Long, squat and wholly out of proportion to the scenery and many of the buildings they pass along their ever-increasing routes, they are more like dolled-up barges or exaggerated narrowboats. But when you’re on one, gliding silently along the Danube, staring at the riverbank from … Read more

A musical marvel: How to do Salzburg’s six-week classical festival

The Salzburg Festival is to opera and theatre what Wimbledon is to tennis. So it’s fitting that tickets are allocated in a similar method: by lottery, with members enjoying priority before the public. Get your application in by January 7 (salzburgfestival.at) and you could be on your way to Austria. Winners will be notified by the … Read more