Author: Anne Ozorio

The Wigmore Hall, London, has launched Schubert : The Complete Songs, a 40-concert series to run through the 2015 and 2016 seasons. There have been Schubert marathons before, like BBC Radio 3’s all-Schubert week and The Oxford Lieder Festival’s Schubert series last year, but the Wigmore Hall series will be a major landmark because the Wigmore Hall is the Wigmore Hall, the epitome of excellence.

Why did Jean Sibelius suppress Kullervo (Op7, 1892)? There are many theories why he didn’t allow it to be heard after its initial performance, though he referred to it fondly in private.

The annual celebration of young talent at the Royal Opera House is a magnificent showcase, and it was good to see such a healthy audience turnout.

First Night of the BBC Proms 2015 with Sakari Oramo in exuberant form, pulling off William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the theatrical flair it deserves.

Even by Shakespeare’s standards A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of his earlier plays, boasts a particularly fantastical plot involving a bunch of aristocrats (the Athenian Court of Theseus), feuding gods and goddesses (Oberon and Titania), ‘Rude Mechanicals’ (Bottom, Quince et al) and assorted faeries and spirits (such as Puck).

Matthias Goerne and Menahem Pressler at the Wigmore Hall, London, an intriguing recital on many levels.

Donizetti’s Poliuto at Glyndebourne could well become one of of the great Glyndebourne classics.

Ambition achieved! Antonio Pappano brought the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House out of the pit and onto the stage, the centre of attention in their own right.

Ji?Ì B?lohl·vek’s annual Czech opera series at the Barbican, London, with the BBC SO continued with Bed?ich Smetana’s Dalibor.