“This isn‘t our sort of thing, you know”, was the remarkable response by Glyndebourne’s founder John Christie to Benjamin Britten’s second chamber opera at its premiere in 1947. No less…
Author: David Truslove
Arvo Pärt at 90 with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tallin Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican
Since the first recording of his music in 1984 on the German label ECM, Arvo Pärt has attracted a huge following and an international reputation. With a significant birthday for…
Welsh National Opera’s Frothy Candide Showcases Its Pythonesque Humour
Welsh National Opera’s Candide has returned as part of its autumn season and, due to stringent Arts Council cuts, it’s one of only two productions, neither of which are new.…
Proms 2025 – Riveting performance of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District
A wailing clarinet, a forlorn cor anglais and a post-coital trombone could hardly have been more ear-catching in this arresting performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk given at the Royal…
Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s Scenes from Under Milk Wood – Presteigne Festival
Established in 1983, the Presteigne Festival is renowned for the diversity and quality of its programming and, like previous seasons, continues its immersion in contemporary music. Within the Welsh border…
Proms 2025: A Mass of Life outlined in all its sumptuous beauty
Hailed by many commentators as a choral masterpiece, Delius’s A Mass of Life is an expansive choral extravaganza taking inspiration from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra. The composer interprets the…
Proms 2025: Stupendous Mahler 3 from the Royal Albert Hall
It’s hard to believe live performances of Mahler’s Third Symphony – the longest symphony in the standard repertoire – only began life in the UK in 1961 when a performance…
Proms 2025: Aigul Akhmetshina soars in Ravel’s Shéhérazade
In its single contribution to this year’s promenade concerts, the London Philharmonic Orchestra took us to exotic and faraway regions, as far from the Albert Hall as one could imagine.…
Proms 2025: Beethoven & Bartók
Music of life-affirming vigour, then chilling intensity was the focus of this curious juxtaposition from the Budapest Festival Orchestra under its founding director Iván Fischer. The unalloyed joy of Beethoven’s…
Clare Presland & The Rape of Lucretia with English Touring Opera
Clare Presland sings the role of Lucretia in English Touring Opera’s new production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, opening at London’s Hackney Empire on 4 October before touring across…