Francis Poulenc’s opera La Voix Humaine portrays a woman speaking on the phone for 45 minutes to a lover who is leaving her. After various technical and emotional travails, she…
Month: October 2021
Glyndebourne’s 2021 Tour opens with Frederic Wake-Walker’s new production of Fidelio
Beethoven was none too sure about his only opera, Fidelio. When librettist Friedrich Treitschke set about revising the first versions of the opera, originally titled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der…
Musick’s Monument: Lucy Crowe and Fretwork at Wigmore Hall
Thomas Mace’s Musick’s Monument, or, A remembrance of the best practical musick, both divine and civil, that has ever been known to have been in the world divided into three…
The dashing brilliance and stylish artistry of Jakub Józef Orliński at Wigmore Hall
There is a very good reason why Jakub Józef Orliński is such an audience draw today. Just a few lines into the first song, Johann Joseph Fux’s ‘Non t’amo per…
Verdi’s Macbeth opens Lyric Opera of Chicago 2021–22 Season
With a new production by Sir David McVicar of Giueppe Verdi’s Macbeth Lyric Opera of Chicago has opened its new season and recommenced live performances on stage with audience. In…
Mid Wales Opera tour Puccini’s dark-hued Il tabarro
Mid Wales Opera is back! Celebrating its 30th anniversary, this enterprising touring company launched its autumn season with Puccini’s one act tragedy Il tabarro. It was given at Brecon’s Theatr…
Handelian magic from English Touring Opera at the Hackney Empire
‘A production in which there is more invention, variety, and good composition, than in any one of the musical dramas of Handel which I have yet carefully and critically examined.’…
Mixed delights from The King’s Consort in Purcell’s Birthday Odes for Queen Mary
Between the years 1689 and 1694 Henry Purcell conceived six successive Birthday Odes for Queen Mary who, until her death in 1694, ruled jointly with her husband William of Orange.…
Christian Gerharer and friends at Wigmore Hall
This recital looked somewhat ‘epic’ on the page and fulfilled its promise in performance, presenting three major chamber works, each encompassing expressive heights, and nadirs, and unified by the nocturnal…
Glyndebourne partnering with Pegasus Opera Company on mentoring programme for singers from diverse backgrounds
Glyndebourne has announced that it is supporting the Pegasus Opera Mentoring Programme, which offers aspiring and emerging artists of African and Asian heritage a bespoke programme of coaching and mentoring…