The musical émigrés from Nazi-Europe who shaped postwar Britain
Halfway up the stairs to the Royal College of Music’s exhibition Music, Migration & Mobility is a map of NW3,…
Revival of the fittest
Opera North has begun 2023 with a couple of big revivals, and it’s always rewarding to call in on these…
Still ugly but worth catching for the chorus and orchestra: Royal Opera’s Tannhäuser reviewed
A classical concert programme is like a set menu, and for this palate the most tempting orchestral offering in the…
Stirring and sophisticated: RLPO, Chooi, Hindoyan, at the Philharmonic Hall, reviewed
Daniel Barenboim was supposed to perform with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra earlier this month. His recent health concerns made…
Do conductors have to be cruel to be good?
Richard Bratby on monstrous maestros
What makes a Christmas song Christmassy?
Temperature records for Los Angeles in the summer of 1945 are patchy, but 90 in the shade seems to have…
If Ravel’s Boléro makes you yawn, you’re not really listening
Only boring people are bored by Ravel’s Boléro. True, the composer – the slyest of wits – left his share…
The sonic equivalent of a Starbucks Eggnog Latte: ENO’s It’s a Wonderful Life reviewed
Whoosh! A digital starburst, a sweep of orchestral sound and the stage of the Coliseum is alive with dancing, whirling…
Hugely entertaining: Royal Opera’s Alcina reviewed
A hotel bellboy, the story goes, discovered George Best in a luxury suite surrounded by scantily clad lovelies and empty…
A towering achievement: ENO’s The Yeomen of the Guard reviewed
The screw may twist and the rack may turn: the Tower of London, in Jo Davies’s new production of The…
A total (and often gripping) theatrical experience: Scottish Opera’s Ainadamar reviewed
Do you remember Osvaldo Golijov? Two decades ago he was classical music’s Next Big Thing: a credible postmodernist with a…
Bold, self-assured reimagining of Monteverdi: Opera North's Orpheus reviewed
You wouldn’t like Tamerlano when he’s angry. ‘My heart seethes with rage,’ he sings, in Act III of Handel’s opera…
A miniature rite of a very English spring: a Vaughan Williams rediscovery in Liverpool
Imagine a folk dance without music. Actually, you don’t have to: poke about on YouTube and you’ll find footage from…
Grey, grey and more grey: Aida, at the Royal Opera House, reviewed
Grey. More grey. So very, very grey. That’s the main visual impression left by Robert Carsen’s new production of Verdi’s…
Why does opera always feel the need apologise for its plots?
Leos Janacek disliked long operas, and the first act of The Makropulos Affair is a masterclass in how to set…
More depravity, please: Salome, at the Royal Opera House, reviewed
The first night of the new season at Covent Garden was cancelled when the solemn news came through. The second…
Holds out huge promise for future seasons: If Opera's La Rondine reviewed
One swallow might not make a summer, but it certainly helps rounds the season off. ‘Perhaps, like the swallow, you…
The joy of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor: BBCSO/Gabel, at the Proms, reviewed
In the Rodgers and Hart musical On Your Toes, a Broadway hoofer is forced to work at a community college,…
An electrifying, immersive thrill: Scottish Opera's Candide reviewed
The first part of the adventure was getting there. Out of the subway, past the tower blocks and under the…
A classic in the making: Glyndebourne's Poulenc double bill reviewed
One morning in the 20th century, Thérèse wakes up next to her husband and announces that she’s a feminist. Hubby,…
Convincing performances and unexpected sounds: Opera Holland Park's Delius/Puccini double bill reviewed
Delius and Puccini: how’s that for an operatic odd couple? Delius, that most faded of British masters, now remembered largely…
With everything working properly, this would have been a lot of fun: Grange Park's La Gioconda reviewed
There are composers who are known for a single opera, and there are operas that are known for only a…
A bleeding, inch-thick hunk of verismo sirloin: Royal Opera's Cav and Pag reviewed
One legacy of lockdown in the classical music world has been the sheer length of the 21-22 season. In a…
Had the air of a Blue Peter Christmas special: Grange Festival's The Yeomen of the Guard reviewed
The Yeomen of the Guard has been called the ‘English Meistersinger’ but the more you think about that, the dafter…
