Uplifting performances of Orchestral Anthems from Merton College, Oxford

Christmas, Easter and specific feast days or celebrations provide opportunities for cathedrals and large parish churches with the necessary resources to perform liturgical works with orchestral accompaniment. All the music…

The choral music of Ivo Antognini is superbly sung by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge

On this disc of a cappella choral music by the Swiss-born Ivo Antognini (born 1962), issued earlier this year by Hyperion, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge yet again demonstrate…

Stirring performances at the First Night of the BBC Proms

This season opener brought together something new, rare and familiar – and with it, in the first half, a clear plea for freedom explicit in the choice of music by…

Rolling River from Clare College, Cambridge

The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge has an impressive CD back catalogue, and this recent release of American choral music from harmonia mundi is no exception.  Recorded in 2022 in…

The Bartered Bride still charms at Garsington

Paul Curran’s 2019 The Bartered Bride, set in late 1950s Britain, makes a welcome return to the Wormsley Estate in Rosie Purdie’s likeable revival.  With a new cast, this folksy…

Visually arresting Candide from Welsh National Opera

In the light of today’s cultural, financial and social turmoil, Welsh National Opera’s new production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is just the sort of tonic everyone needs. If its overworked…

An underwhelming Il trovatore at the Royal Opera House

There are those productions that linger in the memory for months, even years. Then there are those that fade all too quickly from consciousness, consigned to history and best forgotten.…

A magnificent Götterdämmerung at Longborough

With two Ring cycles completed some twenty years ago and another due next year, it’s not for nothing Longborough Festival Opera is known as the Bayreuth of the Cotswolds.  All…

Exaltation from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir fit for a King

Hymn of the Forests was the programme title for what was really a celebration of events earlier in the day down the road at Westminster Abbey.  There was certainly much…

Past Glories Revisited from the Choir of Christ Church, Oxford

This bumper box set from Decca encapsulates a golden age for the Choir of Christ Church, Oxford. Encased in their former jacket designs, the 19 discs showcase recordings made during…