Twilight people: existing betwixt and between states, slipping the bounds of categorisation, on the edge of the norm.
Year: 2020
A French Affair: La Nuova Musica at Wigmore Hall
A French Affair, as this programme was called, was a promising concept on paper, but despite handsomely sung contributions from the featured soloists and much energetic direction from David Bates, it never quite translated into a wholly satisfying evening’s performance.
Unusual and beautiful: Mirga Graûinyt?-Tyla conducts the music of Raminta äerkönyt?
Mirga Graûinyt?-Tyla conducts the music of Raminta äerkönyt? with the Kremerata Baltica, in this new release from Deutsche Grammophon.
Pow! Zap! Zowie! Wowie! -or- Arthur, King of Long Beach
If you might have thought a late 17thcentury semi-opera about a somewhat precious fairy tale monarch might not be your cup of twee, Long Beach Opera cogently challenges you to think again.
Philippe Jaroussky and JÈrÙme Ducros perform Schubert at Wigmore Hall
How do you like your Schubert? Let me count the ways …
Crebassa and Say: Impressionism and Power at Wigmore Hall
On paper this seemed a fascinating recital, but as I was traveling to the Wigmore Hall it occurred to me this might be a clash of two great artists. Both Marianne Crebassa and Fazil Say can be mercurial performers and both can bring such unique creativity to what they do one thought they might simply diverge. In the event, what happened was quite remarkable.
‘Songs of Longing and Exile’: Stile Antico at LSO St Luke’s
Baroque at the Edge describes itself as the ‘no rules’ Baroque festival. It invites ‘leading musicians from all backgrounds to take the music of the Baroque and see where it leads them’.
Richard Jones’ La bohËme returns to Covent Garden
Richard Jones’ production of Puccini’s La bohËme is back at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden after its debut in 2017/18. The opening night, 10th January 2020, featured the first of two casts though soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who was due to sing MimÏ, had to drop out owing to illness, and was replaced at short notice by Simona Mihai who had sung the role in the original run and is due to sing Musetta later in this run.
Coquettes, Wives, and Widows: Gender Politics in French Baroque Opera and Theater
A revelatory study of how composers and dramatists of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France criticized and trivialized independent women in their portrayals of them in works of theater and opera.