Hunger and gluttony; poverty and glamour; homelessness and tinselly angels; the reality of rags and the sparkle of magic. The stark juxtapositions evident on the Strand, during my walk from…
An imaginative disc of French sacred song from Ad Fontes
This recent compilation for solo voice, harp and organ is a delightful tour d’horizon of songs referencing the Virgin Mary, with works written by those associated with the French organist-composer…
O Magnum Mysterium: The Gesualdo Six celebrate Advent at LIVE from London
The Gesualdo Six performed at the very first LIVE from London festival, back in the summer of 2020 presenting music associated with the Compline service, the works linked by a…
Götterdämmerung at Opera Australia
In one small but powerful and sobering moment, with micro-second flashbacks of digital imagery taking the audience back to where it all began seven days previously, it rather felt like…
VOCES8: LIVE from London – Christmas 2023
In a personal note to accompany his second solo disc, Bach, VOCES8’s artistic director Barnaby Smith observed that approaching his ‘beloved’ Bach’s music filled him with ‘some trepidation’: ‘I’m sure…
Siegfried at Opera Australia
Arriving for the penultimate installment of Wagner’s Ring can make it feel like it’s almost over but, welcomingly, there are hours ahead to get to know Siegfried, Wagner’s heroic titular…
Inspirational Christmas Oratorio from Masaaki Suzuki and the Choir and Orchestra of the OAE
Whether or not J.S. Bach’s seasonal work is an oratorio in the strict sense of the word is questionable, and for the purposes of a review, it is perhaps immaterial.…
Die Walküre at Opera Australia
For all Chinese-born, New York-based director Chen Shi-Zheng’s attempts to posit Wagner’s 4-part Der Ring des Nibelungen as “modern science fiction” in a multiverse setting, all the archetypal elements Wagner wrote into…
Das Rheingold at Opera Australia
Having been postponed in both 2020 and 2021 due to the global pandemic, Opera Australia’s much-publicized new “digital” Ring Cycle finally opened Friday evening. And it couldn’t have been more…
The English Concert celebrate Saffron Hall’s 10th anniversary with a superb Rodelinda
Not many concert venues double up as school assembly halls. Actually, that statement does a double disservice: first, to Saffron Hall, which opened on the site of Saffron Walden County…