At the end of the seventeenth century, the Parisian publisher Christophe Ballard, in collaboration with his son Jean-Baptiste-Christophe, undertook an ambitious artistic project to publish a new periodical, Recueils d’airs…
Author: Claire Seymour
Barnaby Smith goes back to Bach
Barnaby Smith’s debut solo disc was titled, simply, Handel. This, his second, once again a collaboration with the Illyria Consort, announces its focus with similar succinctness: Bach. It is, in…
Leoncavallo’s Zingari: another gem from Opera Rara
When Ruggero Leoncavallo’s one-act dramma lirico, Zingari, premiered at the London Hippodrome in September 1912, the Manchester Guardian noted that the large audience greeted it with enthusiastic applause, repeatedly calling…
Echo: Ruby Hughes and Huw Watkins at Wigmore Hall
Travelling into central London on Sunday afternoon was a slightly strange experience. At least there were trains – never a given these strike-strife days – but footfall was light, despite…
Sorrow and Serenity from Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO at the Barbican Hall
There seems to be much sorrow in the world at the moment, but little serenity. This concert by the London Symphony Orchestra thus offered a welcome balancing of affekts, the…
Eternal Heaven: Jupiter Ensemble perform Handel at Wigmore Hall
A seamless sequence of beautiful arias and duets by Handel, balancing the secular and the sacred, the tranquil and the tempestuous, the sumptuous and the sophisticated – all brilliantly performed…
Rachel Duckett and Thando Mjandana win the Voice of Black Opera Awards
The soprano and tenor were chosen as winners at the Grand Final concert of the competition, chosen by a panel of judges chaired by internationally renowned tenor and composer Tom…
Wexford Festival Opera announces 2023 season
Women and War70 events, 13 days24 October – 5 November 2023 The programme for the 72nd Wexford Festival Opera has been announced by Artistic DirectorRosetta Cucchi. Centring around the theme…
Ukrainian opera companies honoured by International Opera Awards
Two Ukrainian opera companies were celebrated for their outstanding work in challenging circumstances at the International Opera Awards 2022 this evening [28 Nov]. The international opera world came together at Teatro Real…
Glyndebourne announces it will no longer tour in 2023 following cut in Arts Council funding
Glyndebourne regrets to announce that it will no longer be able to tour as planned in 2023, following a reduction to its Arts Council England (ACE) funding for touring and…