The fact that La traviata has been historically known in Japan as Tsubaki-hime (The Camellia Princess), involves a misleading conception. The suffix -hime suggests a delicate, well-born maiden rather than…
Category: Performances
Two Easter Messages from Jordi Savall in Hamburg
The Christian calendar regards Easter as its acme, for the message is all about the Resurrection. Though it is a movable feast and therefore not linked to a particular date,…
An ‘authentic’ Rigoletto in Paris
Concert performances are often seen as pale imitations of the real thing, only one step behind that nebulous term, ‘semi-staged’. And yet, sometimes they remain memorable in their own right:…
Kosky’s Royal Opera House Ring Continues with Incisive Simplicity in Siegfried
Having set up his themes in the previous instalments of the Ring in the Royal Opera’s past two seasons, Barrie Kosky relaxes a little in Siegfried, the cycle’s third part,…
The Last Castrato Visits the Palace of Versailles
This concert, a tribute to the castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780 –1861), packed both a theatrical and musical punch. Of course, the venue, the sumptuously decorated Salon d’Hercule in the…
Voices from Finland: Wennäkoski and Sibelius
There are few composers who have had quite the influence on their fellow compatriots as Sibelius has had on his. Whether it is the effect of the music itself, or…
Nine is the Number of the Game: Tan Dun Conducts the London Philharmonic
Napoleon Bonaparte is reputed to have once said: “China is a sleeping giant, when she wakes she will shake the world”. It occurred to me while listening to the Chinese-American…
Handel in Shoreditch: a Tamerlano Triumph
Those who attended Irish National Opera’s Bajazet at the Linbury Theatre will be familiar with the story here. Handel accorded titular status to Tamerlano; different librettos, though: Handel’s principally uses…
IN Series Concludes PASSION PLAYS Festival With For Women Serving Time
Their third production in as many weeks, IN Series’ For Women Serving Time is an excellent meditation on women in prison. It belongs in this group of Passion plays because…
Le Familier et le Moins Familier with Marianne Crebassa
Originally announced as a programme of works by thirteen different composers detailing the journey of a woman’s love throughout her lifetime, and tailor-made for Elsa Dreisig, the content of this…