Category: Performances

For two years, the subdued rumble of anticipation had been building to a forte.

The Philharmonia Orchestra has made a far more comprehensive effort than any other British ensemble to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams, with concerts taking place over the course of seven months in London, Leicester and Bedford including a complete symphony cycle.

Itís not so long ago that the opening night of the Proms was given over to a single major choral work, but in more recent times it has become more of an overt opener to the season, presenting a taster menu of the themes running through the seasonís subsequent 70-plus concerts.

Eugenia Zukerman asked for a 10-minute chamber work ó a piano quintet, perhaps ó and she got Green Sneakers for Baritone, String Quartet and Empty Chair, which lasts exactly an hour.

ìQuelle plaisirî to encounter Gustave Charpentierís seldom performed ìLouiseî at the Paris Opera in a production where most everything went spectacularly right.

The Bayerische Staatsoper, based in three spectacular houses where Mozart, Wagner and many other composers premiered their works, presents over 300 annual performances to a discerning public.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a sensitive, none too healthy 21-year-old music prodigy in 1939, when he was drafted into the German army.

For Sir William Walton, the protracted genesis of Troilus and Cressida must have seemed more akin to the agonies of Sisyphus than to the composition of an opera.

Originating at the Ch‚telet, where the narration was given in French, Robert Carsen’s staging of Bernstein’s unique satire worked rather well in its television broadcast from the Parisian house late in 2006.

The disastrous 1904 La Scala premiere of Giacomo Pucciniís Madame Butterfly is one of those famous annals of opera which tend to leave todayís audiences perplexed about all the uproar.