A weekend commemorating the 150th anniversary of the death of Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) entitled Berlioz: The Ultimate Romantic was launched in style from Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall with a magnificent account of L’enfance du Christ (Childhood of Christ). The emotional impact of this ‘sacred trilogy’ seemed to gain further weight for its performance midway between Christmas and Easter, neatly encapsulating Christ’s journey from birth to death.
Author: Claire Seymour
Love Songs: Temple Song Series
In contrast to the ‘single-shaming’ advertisement – “To the 12,750 people who ordered a single takeaway on Valentine’s Day. You ok, hun?” – for which the financial services company, Revolut, were taken to task, this Temple Music recital programme on 14th February put the emphasis firmly on partnerships: intimate, impassioned and impetuous.
Philip Glass: Akhnaten – English National Opera
There is a famous story that when Philip Glass first met Nadia Boulanger she pointed to a single bar of one of his early pieces and said: “There, that was written by a real composer”. Glass recalls that it was the only positive thing she ever said about him
Rachvelishvili excels in ROH Orchestra’s Russian programme
Cardboard buds flaming into magic orchids. The frenzied whizz of a Catherine Wheel as it pushes forth its fiery petals. A harvest sky threshed and glittering with golden grain.
English National Opera to reprise its 5* production of Paul Bunyan at the historic Alexandra Palace Theatre
Following its sell-out success at Wilton’s Music Hall in September 2018, English National Opera’s acclaimed production of Benjamin Britten’s Paul Bunyan will be revived in May at the equally historically remarkable venue of Alexandra Palace Theatre.
Glyndebourne celebrates 25 years of its award-winning opera house in 2019
Unveiled in 1994, the new auditorium increased capacity by 50% to 1,200 seats and significantly improved backstage facilities. This allowed more people to enjoy world-class opera at Glyndebourne and enabled the company to stage bigger and more ambitious productions in the years that followed.
Amanda Majeski makes a stunning debut at Covent Garden in Richard Jones’s new production of K·t’a Kabanov·
How important is ‘context’, in opera? Or, ‘symbol’? How does one balance the realism of a broad social milieu with the expressionistic intensity of an individual’s psychological torment and fracture?
Returning to heaven: The Cardinall’s Musick at Wigmore Hall
The Cardinall’s Musick invited us for a second time to join them in ‘the company of heaven’ at Wigmore Hall, in a recital that was framed by musical devotions to St Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary.
Diana Damrau’s Richard Strauss Residency at the Barbican: The first two concerts
Listening to these two concerts – largely devoted to the music of Richard Strauss, and given by the soprano Diana Damrau, and the superlative Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the second – I was reminded of Wilhelm Furtw‰ngler’s observation that German music would be unthinkable without him.
Independent Opera & Britten Sinfonia celebrate bicentenary of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert’s births
To celebrate the bicentenary of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s births in 2019, Independent Opera (IO) and Britten Sinfonia present the first public performance of Joby Talbot’s new cantata A Sheen of Dew on Flowers on Thursday 11 April at the Barbican.