Author Archives: John

Britten: Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance, Op.71. Ian Bostridge tenor, Willard White baritone, Duncan Rook bass-baritone; Marcus Farnsworth., baritone Chorus of Britten Pears Young Artists, Deborah Warner director; Audrey Hyland music director; Christof Heter, designer. This was the first of two performances to mark the 60th birthday of the work, first seenContinue reading “Aldeburgh Festival: Britten, Curlew River. Blythburgh Church, 21/6/24”

Unsuk Chin: Cello Concerto; Bruckner: Symphony No.7 in E . BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Alban Gerhardt cello, Ryan Wigglesworth conductor I have never been to the Aldeburgh Festival before – ever – and the last time I went to Snape Maltings was late October 1990 for a chamber music concert. I don’t wear this asContinue reading “Aldeburgh Festival: BBCSO, Wiggleworth – Bruckner, Snape Maltings, 20/6/24”

Director, David Mcvicar; Set Designer, Robert Jones; Costume Designer, Jenny Tiramani; Lighting Designer, Adam Silverman.  Andrea Chénier, Jonas Kaufmann; Maddalena Di Coigny, Sondra Radvanovsky; Carlo Gérard, Amartuvshin Enkhbat; Bersi, Katia Ledoux; The Incredibile, Alexander Kravets; Roucher, Ashley Riches; Contessa Di Coigny, Rosalind Plowright; Pietro Fléville, William Dazeley; The Abbé, Aled Hall Since my posting aboutContinue reading “Giordano, Andrea Chenier – Screening at Sheffield Odeon from ROHCG, 11/6/24”

Mark Wigglesworth. Conductor; Lydia Steier, Director; Momme Hinrichs, Set design and video; Andy Besuch, Costume design; Olaf Freese, Lighting design. Lise Davidsen, Salome; Johan Reuter, Jochanaan; Gerhard Siegel, Herodes; Ekaterina Gubanova, Herodias; Pavol Breslik, Narraboth I have never been to an opera in Paris before, and don’t have a clear idea of how the set-upContinue reading “R. Strauss, Salome  – Opera Bastille, Paris, 25/5/24”

Director, Daisy Evans; Set Designer, Molly O’cathain; Lighting Designer, Jake Wiltshire; Conductor, Peter Whelan with the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Clistene, Chuma Sijeqa; Aristea, Alexandra Urquiola; Argene, Sarah Richmond; Megacle, Gemma Ní Bhriain; Licida, Meili Li; Aminta, Rachel Redmond; Alcandro, Seán Boylan Two years or so after Bajazet (an Olivier award-winning production for outstanding achievement inContinue reading “Vivaldi – L’Olimpiade – ROHCG Linbury, 24/5/24”

MOZART Ach, ich fühl’s! (from The Magic Flute); MOZART String Quintet No.4 in G minor K516; TRAD. Se solen sjunker (Swedish folksong); SCHUBERT Piano Trio No.2 in E flat. Ella Taylor, Robin Ireland & Ensemble 360 I was listening, with one ear, while waiting for my car’s servicing to be finished, to the music onContinue reading “Ensemble 360, Mozart and Schubert – Crucible, Sheffield, 20/5/24”

Sir Mark Elder conductor, Halle Orchestra, Sir Stephen Hough piano: Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso; Stephen Hough Piano Concerto (The World of Yesterday); Butterworth A Shropshire Lad: Rhapsody for Orchestra; Elgar Variations on an Original Theme, “Enigma” This was Mark Elder’s last appearance in Sheffield as the Halle’s music director so for once the hall in SheffieldContinue reading “Halle / Elder – Sheffield City Hall, 18/5/24”

Director, Katie Mitchell; Designer, Vicki Mortimer; Lighting Designer; Jon Clark. Conductor, Giacomo Sagripanti. Lucia, Nadine Sierra; Edgardo, Xabier Anduaga; Enrico Ashton. Artur Ruciński; Raimondo Bidebent, Insung Sim; Arturo Bucklaw, Andrés Presno; Normanno, Michael Gibson; Alisa, Rachael Lloyd My younger self would have found it fairly unbelievable that I would be voluntarily going to a DonizettiContinue reading “Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermuir. ROHCG – 8/5/24”

Conductor, Antonello Manacorda; Carmen, Aigul Akhmetshina; Don José, Piotr Beczala; Escamillo,  Kostas Smoriginas; Micaëla, Olga Kulchynska;  Zuniga, Blaise Malaba; Frasquita, Sarah Dufresne;  Mercédès, Gabrielė Kupšytė; Royal Opera Chorus And Orchestra; Director, Damiano Michieletto; Set Designer, Paolo Fantin; Costume Designer; Carla Teti; Lighting Designer, Alessandro Carletti I travelled to this screening in a rather gloomy frameContinue reading “Bizet, Carmen – ROHCG screened live at the Odeon Sheffield 1/5/24”

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski conductor. PJ Harris director. Burkhard Fritz tenor, Siegfried; Svetlana Sozdateleva soprano, Brünnhilde; Albert Dohman bass, Hagen; Günter Papendell baritone, Gunther; Sinéad Campbell Wallace soprano, Gutrune; Robert Hayward baritone, Alberich; Kai Rüütel-Pajula mezzo-soprano, Waltraute; Claudia Huckle contralto, 1st Norn; Claire Barnett-Jones mezzo-soprano, 2nd Norn; Evelina Dobraceva soprano, 3rd Norn; Alina AdamskiContinue reading “Wagner, Götterdämmerung  – LPO, Jurowski. RFH, 27/4/24”