Baffling and vile: ETO’s Manon Lescaut reviewed
In 1937, John Barbirolli took six pieces by Henry Purcell and arranged them for an orchestra of strings, horns and…
What would Tanner say?
On the train home from the Royal Festival Hall I learned of the death of Michael Tanner, who wrote this…
The composer of dog-food ads who also wrote one of the most original cycles of British symphonies
Next month in London, they’re celebrating a composer you’ve probably never heard of, but whose work you’re sure to have…
Funny, faithful and inventive: Scottish Opera’s Barber of Seville reviewed
A violinist friend in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra used to talk about an orchestra’s ‘muscle memory’; a collective…
The miracle of watching a great string quartet perform
Joseph Haydn, it’s generally agreed, invented the string quartet. And having done so, he re-invented it: again and again. Take…
Juicy solution to the Purcell problem: Opera North’s Masque of Might reviewed
Another week, another attempt to solve the Purcell problem. There’s a problem? Well, yes, if you consider that a composer…
Ebullience and majesty: Opera North’s Falstaff reviewed
Opera North has launched a ‘Green Season’, which means (among other things) that the sets and costumes for its new…
ENO’s Peter Grimes shows a major international company operating at full artistic power
In David Alden’s production of Peter Grimes, the mob assembles before the music has even started – silhouetted at the…
