Four years have passed since my last Dialogues des CarmÈlites, and on that occasion – Robert Carsen’s production for the ROH – heightened dramatic intensity, revolutionary insurrection (enhanced by an oppressed populace formed by a 67-strong Community Ensemble) and, under the baton of Simon Rattle, luxuriant musical rapture, were the order of the day.
Month: February 2018
‘B & B’ in a new key
Seattle Opera’s new production of BÈatrice et BÈnÈdict is best regarded as a noble experiment, performed expressly to see if Berlioz’ delectable 1862 opÈra comique can successfully be brought into the living repertory outside its native France. As such, it is quite a success.
Songs for Nancy: Bampton Classical Opera celebrate legendary soprano, Nancy Storace
Bampton Classical Opera’s 25th anniversary season opens with a
concert on 7th March at St John’s Smith Square to celebrate the
legendary soprano Nancy Storace.
TenebrÊ Responsories
recording by Stile Antico
Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Tenebrae Responsories are designed to occupy the final three days of Holy Week, and contemplate the themes of loss, betrayal and death that dominate the Easter week. As such, the Responsories demand a sense of darkness, reflection and depth that this new recording by Stile Antico – at least partially – captures.
Mahler Symphony no 9, Daniel Harding SRSO
Mahler Symphony no 9 in D major, with Daniel Harding conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, new from Harmonia Mundi. A rewarding performance on many levels, not least because it’s thoughtfully sculpted, connecting structure to meaning.
Of Animals and Insects: a musical menagerie at Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall was transformed into a musical menagerie earlier this week, when bass-baritone Ashley Riches, a Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and pianist Joseph Middleton took us on a pan-European lunchtime stroll through a gallery of birds and beasts, blooms and bugs.
Hugo Wolf, Italienisches Liederbuch
Nationality is a complicated thing at the best of times. (At the worst of times: well, none of us needs reminding about that.) What, if anything, might it mean for Hugo Wolf’s Italian Songbook? Almost whatever you want it to mean, or not to mean.
Mortal Voices: the Academy of Ancient Music at Milton Court
The relationship between music and money is long-standing, complex and inextricable. In the Baroque era it was symbiotically advantageous.
A newly discovered song by Alma Mahler
It is well known that in addition to the fourteen songs by Alma Mahler published in her lifetime, several dozen more – perhaps as many as one hundred – were written and have been lost or destroyed.