Often you go to concerts and the programming isn’t especially obvious – why are these works being played besides each other? This is particularly the case with concertos and symphonies.…
Category: Reviews
Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House
As an exploration of 18th-century class structures Le nozze di Figaro is a timeless classic which no number of revivals will diminish. With its thumb-nosing at society’s upper echelons, it’s no…
Iestyn Davies and Arcangelo: Bach cantatas
In 2017, Iestyn Davies added an MBE, for his services to music, and a Gramophone Award, for his Hyperion recording with Jonahan Cohen and Arcangelo of three of Bach’s solo…
Hasse’s serenata, La Semele, at Wigmore Hall
The cultural influence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is immeasurable. A source of inspiration for artists, sculptors, novelists, poets and composers for centuries, its myths have furnished countless composers and librettists with…
Canciones: Bach-Brouwer – cultural fusions from Andreas Scholl and Edin Karamazov
The mere mention of the word ‘crossover’ can be enough to raise the hackles of classical music lovers for whom the genre-splicer suggests not a genuine instinct for synchronous musical…
Florencia en el Amazonas at Lyric Opera of Chicago
For its final production during Fall 2021, Lyric Opera of Chicago staged Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas with Ana María Martínez in the title role of the diva confronting…
The Other Erlking: Nicholas Mogg and Jâms Coleman present the songs and ballads of Carl Loewe
A cursory scan down the contents list of The Other Erlking, recently released by baritone Nicholas Mogg and pianist Jâms Coleman on the Champs Hill label, might mislead, titles such…
Es ist ein Ros: Dresdner Kammerchor sing Praetorius
Some composer-anniversaries are feted – it sometimes seems as if Beethoven 250 is still running – and other musical milestones do not emerge from the shadows. 2021 was the 50th,…
Angels and Demons: Christmas Eve with I Fagiolini
I Fagiolini can always be relied upon to bring a double shot of invention and intellect to a choral Christmas cocktail. Stalwarts of VOCES8’s Live from London festivals, their Monterverdian…
A Renaissance Christmas: Stile Antico, live from London
Place ‘A Renaissance Christmas’ alongside ‘Stile Antico’ and one might comfortingly anticipate familiar festive fare, immaculately performed. That final expectation was rewardingly fulfilled in this instalment of VOCES8’s Live from…