Issued last September but only recently brushing my radar, Pygmalion’s alpha-plus Bach disc is a revelation. Raphaël Pichon, founder of the specialist Baroque ensemble in 2006, has had a rewarding…
Opera Holland Park introduces the 2021 Season, including casting and a reimagined auditorium
A breath of fresh air Working with the set designer takis, Opera Holland Park has reimagined the stage and auditorium of its theatre. The new dynamic and exciting performance space…
The Royal Opera House unveils a week-long programme of activity to celebrate International Women’s Day 2021
The Royal Opera House is delighted to announce a week of activity to mark International Women’s Day 2021. Join us from Monday 8 March as we celebrate International Women’s Day 2021 and host a week of events, broadcasts and…
Glyndebourne committed to staging its 2021 festival
Glyndebourne has confirmed its plans to proceed with its annual opera festival in 2021, with adaptations to ensure the show can go on, even if social distancing is still in…
VOCES8 open their Live from London, Spring festival
Spring may be almost upon us, its rituals heralding re-awakenings and promising new beginnings. But, this year, when we are all stuck in an eternal present, the cycles of the…
Anna Netrebko: Met Stars Live in Concert
The latest, and tenth, concert in the Met Stars Live series took us to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace complex. The concert was once again genially hosted…
Cimarosa’s The Impresario in Distress Gets Its First Modern Recording
The Italian phrase in angustie means something like “in distress,” “in a tight bind,” or “under pressure from all sides.” Angustie derives from the Latin “angustus”—narrow—and is related to the…
Met announces two-week schedule for Nightly Met Opera Streams
The Met has announced themed lineups for two weeks of its Nightly Met Opera Streams,a free series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on the company’s website during…
Visions of Childhood: April Fredrick and the English Symphony Orchestra
“Let’s not lose our wayin this solitude.” (‘September’, from Vier Letzte Lieder) The last work that American-born, UK-domiciled soprano April Fredrick performed before the March 2020 coronavirus lockdown was Richard…