Havana good time

For a crash course in Cuban classical music history, I couldn’t ask for a finer set of guides. Sitting around a large antique table with me are four of the country’s leading composers – Roberto Valera, Jorge López Marin, Guido López-Gavilán and Juan Piñera – plus pianist and teacher Ulises Hernández. Everyone listens intently to each other and there is not a mobile phone in sight. Only the pouring and stirring of the umpteenth round of coffees is allowed to break the flow of conversation. At the top of the table, meanwhile, is the person who’s brought us all together today, conductor Zenaida Romeu.

We’re at the HQ of Camerata Romeu, an all-female string ensemble that, founded by its namesake in 1993, has established itself as an important cog in Cuba’s classical music machine. As orchestral homes go, this one is pretty special. Dating