Friendship in Song is the theme of the 21st Oxford Lieder Festival, and the Opening Night recital in the Sheldonian Theatre certainly offered an evening of camaraderie and conviviality, as…
Category: Reviews
Idomeneo at the Met
Thursday night performances of lesser-known works often spark memorable Met moments. So it was last week, at the revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo. The house was far from full and a…
A dark, sombre Tamerlano from English Touring Opera
The Mongol conqueror, Tamerlane (1336-1405), doesn’t have a good reputation. Also known as Timur, this son of a nomadic shepherd was a masterful military leader and tactician but is most…
Otello at Philadelphia
Gioachino Rossini finished Otello in 1816, the same year as his comic masterpieces, Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. The latter two are acknowledged masterpieces. Yet it is Otello…
Robert Carsen’s new production of Aida at the Royal Opera House
Finding myself with an hour to kill before a performance of Robert Carsen’s new production of Aida at the Royal Opera House earlier this week, I settled down in a…
Handel’s Ottone opens English Touring Opera’s 2022 Autumn Tour
In his Welcome to English Touring Opera’s 2022 Autumn Tour, James Conway reminds audiences that ‘[w]hen Handel was writing his operas in the 1720s and 30s, it was the only…
Christof Loy’s Tosca opens ENO’s 2022-23 season
There were moments during the first night of Christof Loy’s production of Tosca at the Coliseum, which opened English National Opera’s 2022-23 season, when I thought that I might be…
A compelling and ravishing Gurrelieder from Edward Gardner and the LPO
Just an hour before this performance of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder I had been sitting through a recital of Philip Glass’s piano Études. In one sense this was much better preparation for…
Eugene Onegin in San Francisco
Symphonic excess in a spiritless exposition of Tchaikovsky’s sacrifice of youthful love. Greek conductor Vassilis Christopoulos came to fame at the Athens Opera with an Elektra, and then gained even…
The English Concert at Wigmore Hall: Purcell and Blow
Harry Bicket assembled the ‘Dream Team’ for this English Concert programme of music by Henry Purcell and John Blow. Seven internationally renowned singers were joined by new-kid-on-the-block, countertenor Hugh Cutting,…