The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge / Stephen Layton Stephen Layton uncovers a rich seam of choral jewels in this collection of sacred music by Finnish choral composer and translator…
Category: Reviews
The Seven Deadly Sins: Opera North at Leeds Playhouse
Kurt Weill’s ballet chanté, Die sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins), is a work of exile in troubled times, Weill and Brecht wrote it in 1933 in Paris shortly after…
‘Ariodante in concert’ at the Royal Opera House
Ariodante is surely one of Handel’s most ‘human’ dramas. It’s not just that the libretto –anonymously adapted from Antonio Salvi’s Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, after Ariosto’s Orlando furioso – involves…
Liszt/Thalberg Opera Transcriptions & Fantasies: Marc-André Hamelin
‘Thalberg is the first pianist in the world – Liszt is unique.’ So declared, somewhat ambiguously, the impressively named Princess Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso in her Parisian salon after hearing…
Nicky Spence and Julius Drake bring Gypsy magic and mystery to Wigmore Hall
‘You noticed a nice passage in my Diary of One Who Disappeared? You know, it would be like under that fir tree of mine in my forest. And there’s another…
King’s College Cambridge: Bruckner – Mass No.2 in E minor/Motets
While religious convictions are not necessarily a prerequisite for composers of sacred music (the agnosticism of Vaughan Williams was no barrier to his Mass in G minor nor Fauré’s atheism…
Blue Electric at the Playground Theatre
“But, why?” “Because I said so …” The recurring refrain of the heated conversations between Maya – a rebellious teenager struggling through the angst of adolescence – and her domineering…
Messe Da Pacem: Music by Pierre Villette, Yves Castagnet & Maurice Ravel
Under Rupert Gough, the Choir of Royal Holloway is long acknowledged as one of the country’s most respected university ensembles and has an impressive reputation for illuminating hidden corners of…
Sturm und Drang #2: Ian Page and The Mozartists
Ian Page does like a long-term project. Alongside Classical Opera’s MOZART 250 project – which won’t reach a conclusion until 2041 – the conductor is in the process of completing…
Love, always: Chanticleer, Live from London … via San Francisco
This tenth of ten Live from London concerts was in fact a recorded live performance from California. It was no less enjoyable for that, and it was also uplifting to learn that this wasn’t in fact the ‘last’ LfL event that we will be able to enjoy, courtesy of VOCES8 and their fellow vocal ensembles (more below …).