The joy of Radio 3’s Building a Library
So, you’ve fallen in love with a piece of classical music and you want to buy a recording. The problems…
The audience were in tears: Christian Gerhaher/Gerold Huber at the Wigmore Hall reviewed
‘Popular’ classical music is a relative term. Show me someone who thinks Beethoven is surefire box office, and I’ll show……
Warmth, energy and gripping momentum: Stephen Hough’s Wigmore Hall residency reviewed
In the summer of 1878 Johannes Brahms finally succeeded in growing a beard. It was his third attempt. ‘Prepare your…
Beer, sweat and jockstraps: the real history of the CBSO
In childhood, the theme tune to The Box of Delights was the sound of Christmas. The melody was ‘The First…
Don’t tell me model railways aren’t art. My little engine is a thing of spirit and beauty
It’s a summer day at Llangenydd station, and the afternoon train is already late, not that anyone seems to mind.…
Sadistic and repellent and thrilling: Mascagni’s Iris reviewed
If you’ve ever felt that poor Madama Butterfly had a bit of a raw deal, then you really, really don’t…
More misogynistic than the original: ENO’s Orpheus in the Underworld reviewed
It’s Act Three of Emma Rice’s new production of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Eurydice (Mary Bevan) is trapped…
Simon Rattle’s Messiaen is improving with age
Two flutes, a clarinet and a bassoon breathe a chord on the edge of silence. As they fade, the sound…
Needed a shot of Stolichnaya: The Tchaikovsky Project reviewed
Grade: B+ I’m not sure about ‘Projects’. Aren’t those what ageing rockers produce, in a haze of sedatives, when their…
Why this première felt important: James MacMillan’s Fifth Symphony reviewed
All symphonies were sacred symphonies, once. Haydn began each day’s composition with a prayer, and ended every score with the…
Bracing and provocative – but would Wagner have approved? Arcola’s Rheingold reviewed
When it comes to the opening of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Mark Twain probably put it as well as anyone: ‘Out…
It’s not fair – I liked Il segreto di Susanna before it was cool: OHP’s double bill reviewed
Should a secret pleasure ever be shared? Spoiler alert: Susanna’s secret, unknown to her husband Gil, is that she smokes.…
A sonic masterclass: the Silesian String Quartet at Wigmore Hall reviewed
Of all the daft notions about the classical music business, the daftest is that it’s a business at all. Seriously:…
Can an Offenbach production be too silly? Garsington’s Fantasio reviewed
The tears of a clown have often fallen on fertile operatic ground. Think of Rigoletto and I Pagliacci; or The…
Easily the best thing I’ve seen at the Grange Festival: Falstaff reviewed
‘Tutto nel mondo e burla’ sings the company at the end of Verdi’s Falstaff — ‘All the world’s a joke’…
The miracle of Longborough – the company that broke the mould for summer opera
At Longborough Festival Opera, Richard Wagner is on the roof. Literally: his statue stands on top of the little pink…
The ideal summer opera: Garsington’s The Bartered Bride reviewed
So it’s the start of the summer opera season at Wormsley and we’re sitting there in evening dress in the…
This concert proves it is time to take Michael Tippett seriously
In Oliver Soden’s new biography of Michael Tippett, he describes how Tippett wanted to open his Fourth Symphony with the…
Hearing Gilbert & Sullivan on period instruments was a revelation
‘I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all,’ wrote Stravinsky in one…