Once again, a new release of world premiere recordings by Em Records has opened up a fertile path through the byways of English music, and there are rich rewards for…
Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO bring England and Japan into a wonderfully rewarding communion at Snape Maltings
We’ve become used to ‘hybrid’ meetings, where some members of a team meet in a workplace while others tune in from home, hotel rooms or elsewhere. Well, this is something…
The Queen of Spades at The Grange Festival
There’s nothing particularly Russian, or Slavic, about Paul Curran’s new production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at The Grange Festival, though it’s heartening to see singers displaced from their…
Les Siècles, the London Symphony Chorus and François-Xavier Roth: a gripping and ravishing concert of French music at the Barbican
When I look for a classic French orchestral sound I’d normally turn to an orchestra such as the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra or the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du…
Country Life: L’elisir d’amore at Longborough Festival Opera
After John Doyle’s spartan Werther at Grange Park Opera, in which the locale was essentially a symbolic representation of the lovelorn protagonist’s mind, at Longborough Festival Opera for their production…
A triumphant final concert with the LSO from Simon Rattle at the Barbican
Sir Simon Rattle’s final Barbican concert with the London Symphony Orchestra as their Music Director ended his six-year tenure – perhaps one that was shorter than it might have been…
Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Princeton Festival
Each summer the Princeton Festival stages an opera, this year an exuberant production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia under the tent on the Morven Museum Grounds. Though it is…
Into the woods … Werther at Grange Park Opera
In his programme book article accompanying John Doyle’s new production of Massenet’s Werther at Grange Park Opera, Rupert Christiansen describes the opera’s musical highlights as being scenes that ‘flow in…
Hansel & Gretel: Opera Holland Park Young Artists
One of the reasons why Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel remains such a popular staple in the opera house is that it combines a potent story with great tunes. Written before Freud, yet…
Another escape from the Seraglio: André Grétry’s La caravane du Caire at the Chateau de Versailles
André Grétry’s opéra-ballet La caravane du Caire is certainly not fashioned for the MeToo# age. It was given a private performance at Fontainebleau in 1783 and then presented the following…