Voices cut through the darkness, chanting in prayer. A candle flickers centre-stage. These are potent symbols of the fundamentalism and fire that drive Handel’s Jephtha and of the battle between…
Category: Reviews
Francisco Guerrero from The Brabant Ensemble
Known by his contemporaries as ‘El cantor de Maria’, Francisco Guererro (1528-99) was a much-travelled musician and composer whose career bridged the gap between Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis…
Annabel Arden’s L’elisir d’amore brings autumn sunshine to Glyndebourne
The first day of what would have been Glyndebourne’s 2023 Autumn Tour, had not Arts Council England swung its financial axe, was as sunny and bright as the score which…
Perfection, of a Kind: Britten vs. Auden – City of London Sinfonia at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
‘I’ve seen & am seeing Auden a lot, & our immediate future is locked with his, it seems.’ So wrote Benjamin Britten to his sister, Barbara, on 3 September 1939.[1]…
Zoraida in Wexford: Forgotten But Not Gone
It was a big leap today from the effervescent afternoon performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s acclaimed comic delight, The Daughter of the Regiment, to the somber evening show of the same…
Afternoon Laughs in Wexford
If the Wexford Festival’s evening fare in their Women & War themed season is deadly serious, the afternoon offerings were chockful of amusing confections that are more fun than a…
Glorious performances from Ensemble Aedes and Les Siècles
This recent Marian-themed disc from the French record label Aparté brings together a trio of works by two composers four centuries apart: a single offering by the Renaissance Clément Janequin…
Wexford Festival’s Stunning Two Women
When you enter the auditorium for the performance of Mark Tutino, Fabio Ceresa and Luca Rossi’s La ciociara (Two Women), the darkened stage is fronted on the far left apron…
Red Dawn Rises Again in Wexford
The venerable Wexford Festival’s M.O. is rehabilitating forgotten operas from the past, and few are further beyond recollection than Camille Erlanger’s competent potboiler, L’Aube rouge (The Red Dawn). The libretto…
New Millennium: Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
Signum’s latest release of 21st-century choral music is a hugely rewarding survey of anthems and organ music from living composers, many of whom are graduates of Cambridge University. With eight…