Soile Isokoski and Maria Viitasalo made a welcome return to theWigmore Hall, London. Their recital was a masterclass in what singing really should be about: not simply sound production, but…
Month: January 2013
PellÈas et MÈlisande in Nice
PellÈas et MÈlisande, in t-shirts and jeans, were out riding bicycles. They came upon a fountain. You know what happened.
Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall – Warlock, Britten
Surveying British chamber and instrumental music written between the 1890s and WWII, the Nash Ensemble’s Wigmore Hall residency series, Dreamers of Dreams, has illuminated the creativity and originality of British…
San Diego Opera new season 2013
The New Year 2013 is here and San Diego Opera will open its season at the end of this month. The company will present four well known operas: Gaetano Donizetti’s…
Sir Harrison Birtwistle The Minotaur ROH 2013
If, first time around, in 2008, The Minotaur offered the obvious excitement of the premiere, it was now noteworthy how quickly it had settled into repertory status. Not that it…
A Noteworthy Chicago Revival of Don Pasquale
In its recent run of Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale Lyric Opera of Chicago has taken the 1973 production from Covent Garden, via Dallas Opera, and revivified it with the efforts…
L’Italienne ‡ Alger in Marseille
Once a mainstay of the repertory L’Italiana in Algeri now usually gives way to Il Turco in Italia when an opera company wants to give Il barbiere di Sivigllia and…
Echoes of Venice
The opening concert of the Wigmore Hall’s spring season exemplified the high standards of intelligent musicianship and imaginative programming so typical of the Hall’s artists. Soprano Carolyn Sampson and theorbo…
Hugo Wolf Songbooks, Wigmore Hall, Kirchschlager, Henschel, Drake
Julius Drake’s latest Hugo Wolf Songbooks recital at the Wigmore Hall featured Angelika Kirchschlager and Dietrich Henschel. These singers have very different voices indeed, so Drake’s programme made the most…