ENO did not exactly ‘import a choir of Heathens’ to encourage the Shaws of this world to ‘hasten’ to its version of ‘Messiah’ ‘if only to witness the delight of the public and the discomfiture of the critics,’ the contribution of ‘Heathens’ in musical terms being limited to representing the populace of an initially grey Britain (or so I assume) but for every critic who was discomfited — most of us — there were hundreds of audience members who loved it, so it’s fairly safe to predict a considerable hit.
Category: Reviews
Mark Padmore at Wigmore Hall
Mark Padmore and The English Concert took us on a journey from the dark depths of melancholy to the ethereal transcendence of joy, in a display of consummate artistry at the Wigmore Hall.
Musical Exoticism: Images and Reflections
Ralph Locke’s recent book on Musical Exoticism is both an historical survey of aspects of the exotic in Western musical culture and a discussion of paradigms of the exotic and their relevance for musicological understanding.
CosÏ fan tutte, Opera Australia
Like most opera companies, the Mozart/da Ponte trifecta of Figaro,
Don Giovanni and CosÏ fan tutte are central to Opera
Australia’s repertoire.
Iestyn Davies at Wigmore Hall
There was a certain inevitability about the build-up to Iestyn Davies’ recital at the Wigmore Hall in London last Wednesday.
Lorin Maazel conducts Verdi and Puccini at La Scala
In the mid-1980s (just before the Riccardo Muti era began), Lorin Maazel often ruled the conductor’s roost at La Scala.
From the House of the Dead at the MET
Leoš Jan·ček’s From the House of the Dead is a
very odd duck to find on the stage of a grand opera house.
Die Rheinnixen by New Sussex Opera
London has long been spoiled in the operatic rarity department, thanks to companies like Opera Rara, Chelsea Opera Group and University College Opera populating various areas of the Venn diagram that is obscure repertoire.
Hindemith’s Das Marienleben — Soile Isokoski
Hindemith’s Das Marienleben has a formidable reputation, but is rarely heard. Soile Isokoski could change all that. This cycle is a tour de force, but tours de force need singers capable of achieving them.