By Nicola Lisle [Oxford Times, 10 November 2010]
Schumann have grabbed the lion’s share of the attention, while poor old Thomas Arne — born 300 years ago — has struggled to get a look in. Bampton Opera put that right on Friday with a double bill of two Arne masques, presented as concert versions — extracts from Alfred, composed in 1753 for the third birthday of Augusta, Princess of Brunswick, and The Judgement of Paris, composed in 1742, the same year that a fundraising campaign was launched to build the Holywell Music Room.