Bampton Classical Opera brought Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s L’Isole d’Alcina (Alcina’s Island) to London in Gilly French’s English translation in a production directed and designed by Jeremy Gray with Thomas Blunt conducting…
PROM 68: Garsington’s Midsummer Magic at the Proms
For its first outing to the Henry Wood Proms, Garsington Opera brought with it not only the luxury vehicle of the Philharmonia Orchestra, but a crack team of soloists –…
Falstaff in Paris
It was magic from the start, Verdi’s in medias res chords exploded and tumbled, Danish conductor Michael Schønwandt established the solid, brisk beat, brilliantly illuminating Verdi’s vast musical complexities to…
PROM 56: Bruckner and God.
The BBC Singers and the Berliner Philharmoniker in motets and the Fifth Symphony Anton Bruckner was first and foremost a man of God. Much of what he composed was defined…
Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide in Bayreuth
Ifigenia in Aulide: Bayreuth Baroque 2024 opens with the modern premiere of Porpora’s 1735 opera It was with an opera by Nicola Antonio Porpora – Carlo il Calvo – that…
PROM 59: ‘French Fantasy’
Performances of varying quality, but much to enjoy in a couple of premieres and some exhilarating Ravel. Music of solace and sensuality formed the twin peaks of this all-French programme…
Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade is wittily and slickly recreated by Vache Baroque
As with so many librettos by Pietro Metastasio, L’Olimpiade was set numerous times during the 18th century. Like Vivaldi’s version (which audiences in London have also had the chance to…
Sunday in the Park with Lyric
On Sunday, 25 August Lyric Opera of Chicago presented its annual Sunday in the Park with Lyric at Millennium Park. In addition to welcoming a new season, Lyric Opera also…
PROM 52: Carmen and the cigarette girls come to town
There’s a long tradition of bringing productions from Glyndebourne to the BBC Proms in London. It’s one way of making them more widely accessible. The original production of Bizet’s Carmen…
PROM 50: A curate’s egg of an evening but a magnificent Glagolitic Mass
For the second of two consecutive appearances at the Albert Hall, Jakub Hrůša and his Prague-based orchestra delivered an all-Czech programme showcasing a Proms premiere, a seldom-heard piano concerto and…