After a lot of heart-searching, and In no particular order, these were: 1. Bruckner 8: Halle/Elder, Newcastle 2. R.Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten: Thielemann – Dresden Semperoper 3. Britten Curlew River: Bostridge, Aldeburgh 4. Wagner, Tannhauser: Bayreuth Festival 5. Bruckner 5: Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko, BBC Proms 6. Bruckner 9 (+ performing version of finale): Halle,Continue reading “My 10 best concerts and operas for 2024”
Author Archives: John
Messiaen, BBC Philharmonic: Bridgewater Hall, 12/12/24
Messiaen Des canyons aux étoiles…Ludovic Morlot, conductor; Martin Owen, horn; Steven Osborne piano Following on from Tuesday’s performance -of La Rondine, I was reflecting on how relatively few years there are between the writing of, say, Turandot and Messiaen’s ‘From the Canyons to the Stars’…no more than about 50 years. That is well within theContinue reading “Messiaen, BBC Philharmonic: Bridgewater Hall, 12/12/24”
Puccini, La Rondine, LSO, Pappano, Barbican: 10/12/24
Concert performance – London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Antonio Pappano conductor; Carolina López Moreno, Magda; Serena Gamberoni, Lisette; Michael Fabiano, Ruggero; Paul Appleby, Prunier; Ashley Riches, Rambaldo; Sarah Dufresne, Yvette/Giorgette; Angela Schisano, Bianca/Gabriele; Marvic Monreal, Suzy/Lolette; London Symphony Chorus Unusually for me, I had made a wrong judgement about seating in booking for this . IContinue reading ” Puccini, La Rondine, LSO, Pappano, Barbican: 10/12/24″
Advent Concert, Wiener Symphoniker. St Stephen’s Cathedral 6/12/24
Stéphane Denève, Conductor; Rosa Feola, soprano; Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde; Kate Lindsey, mezzo; Wiener Symphoniker. Programme included – Mass for Choir and Orchestra C major KV 167 “Trinity”, 2. Gloria, Mozart; Laudate Dominum, Mozart; German Dances KV 605, No. 3 C major “Sleigh Ride”, Mozart; ‘Ave Maria” for solo voice and organ, Saint-Saëns; ‘Carillon”, 3rd andContinue reading “Advent Concert, Wiener Symphoniker. St Stephen’s Cathedral 6/12/24”
Pfitzner, Palestrina. Wiener Staatsoper, 5/12/24
Pius IV, Günther Groissböck; Giovanni Morone, Michael Nagy; Bernardo Novagerio, Michael Laurenz; Cardinal Christoph Madruscht, Wolfgang Bankl; Carlo Borromeo, Wolfgang Koch; Palestrina, Michael Spyres; Ighino, Kathrin Zukowski; Silla, Patricia Nolz. Conductor, Christian Thielemann; Director, Herbert Wernicke; Design and Lighting, Herbert Wernicke I spent the late morning and early afternoon in a bit of a pilgrimageContinue reading “Pfitzner, Palestrina. Wiener Staatsoper, 5/12/24”
Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Wiener Staatsoper, 4/12/24
Ulisse, Georg Nigl; Penelope, Stephanie Maitland; Telemaco, Cyrille Dubois; Minerva, Isabel Signoret; Melanto / L’umana fragilità 3, Daria Sushkova; Nettuno / Antinoo / Il Tempo, Antonio Di Matteo; Pisandro / L’umana fragilità 4, Pavel Kolgatin; Iro / L’umana fragilità 2, Jörg Schneider; Ericlea / L’umana fragilità 1, Stephanie Houtzeel; Giove, Matthäus Schmidlechner. Orchestra, Concentus MusicusContinue reading “Monteverdi, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Wiener Staatsoper, 4/12/24”
Elizabeth Brauss, piano. Wigmore Hall, 2/12/24
Bach, Capriccio in B flat (Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother) BWV992; Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat Op. 81a ‘Les Adieux’; Schumann, Geistervariationen WoO. 24; Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat Op. 83 This recital was entitled ‘Farewell‘ to give it a thematic link – a descriptiveContinue reading “Elizabeth Brauss, piano. Wigmore Hall, 2/12/24”
Dark Century. LPO. Royal Festival Hall, 27/11/24
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrey Boreyko conductor; Gidon Kremer violin; Alexander Roslavets bass, narrator, London Philharmonic Choir. Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw, Op.46; Weinberg: Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.67; Shostakovich: Symphony No.13 in B flat minor (Babi Yar) for bass, chorus & orchestraThe background, in a sense, to this concert is the book by JeremyContinue reading “Dark Century. LPO. Royal Festival Hall, 27/11/24”
Handel Messiah. Westminster Abbey 26/11/24
Choir of Westminster Abbey, Academy of Ancient Music; Andrew Nethsingha, conductor; Anna Dennis, soprano; Tristram Cooke, countertenor; Simon Wall, tenor; Jonathan Brown, bass. Going to this event was a matter of happenstance. I had hoped to be going to the L’Elisir D’Amore production at ENO but had wrongly written down the date of the showContinue reading “Handel Messiah. Westminster Abbey 26/11/24”
Verdi, Rigoletto. ENO, 21/11/24
Weston Hurt, Rigoletto; Yongzhao Yu, Duke of Mantua; Robyn Allegra Parton, Gilda; William Thomas, Sparafucile; Amy Holyland, Maddalena; David Kempster, Monterone. Richard Farnes, Conductor; Jonathan Miller, Director; Elaine Tyler-Hall, Revival Director; Patrick Robertson and Rosemary Vercoe, Designers; Ian Jackson-French, Revival Lighting Designer; Tommy Shaw, Choreographer This is a very famous – and now elderly –Continue reading “Verdi, Rigoletto. ENO, 21/11/24”
John's musical journey 