An obvious risk, and frustration, in asking infinitely profound questions is that one knows they cannot be answered. The title of Ondřej Adámek’s orchestral song-cycle, Where Are You?, poses one such…
Author: Claire Seymour
Oliver Mears’ Rigoletto at Covent Garden: a superb drama of darkness and light
It was an absolute delight to be back at the Royal Opera House for the opening night of the 2021-22 season, but also somewhat disorientating. A full auditorium; convivial operagoers…
A wonderful recital of French song from Sabine Devieilhe and Alexandre Tharaud at Wigmore Hall
When I heard the French soprano Sabine Devieilhe make her solo debut at Wigmore Hall in May 2018, the only quibble I had with her charming programme, Les Salons de…
Respighi Songs: Ian Bostridge and Saskia Giorgini
In 1913, Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) became professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di S Cecilia in Rome, a post he held for over a decade. One of his students…
Arcangelo perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the BBC Proms
When Arcangelo performed Handel’s Theodora on the penultimate evening of the 2018 Proms season, I wondered whether a small period-instrument ensemble and singers could surmount the challenges posed by the…
Amy Beach’s Cabildo at Wilton’s Music Hall: a Creole Beggar’s Opera
Pierre Lafitte (1770-1821) is a figure of swashbuckling legend. The French-born New Orleans merchant mariner-cum-pirate and his brother Jean ran an illicit trading network in defiance of the American, Spanish…
Elizabeth Llewellyn and Simon Lepper open the 2021-22 Wigmore Hall season with Italian and English song
One year on from her Wigmore Hall debut, and following the release of her highly praised album of the songs of Samuel Taylor-Coleridge, Heart & Hereafter, soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn returned…
An intriguing debut album from L’Escadron Volant de la Reine – Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger: Il tedesco a Roma
Rome, the 1620s. Johann Hieronymus (Giovanni Girolamo) Kapsberger, virtuoso theorbist, singer and esteemed composer is at the peak of his fame and influence. Born to German parents in Venice in…
Songs of Travel and Home: a very personal debut album from baritone Julien Van Mellaerts
For his debut recital album, Julien Van Mellaerts has compiled a programme of English, French and New Zealand song which, the baritone explains, ‘shows a quasi-autobiographical insight into my life…
Angel Blue and the National Institute of Social Sciences present ‘What’s Next for Opera?’ webinar
On September 23 at 12pm ET / 5pm BT, the National Institute of Social Sciences (NISS) will present a webinar, ‘What’s Next for Opera?’, with a distinguished roster of industry…