The programme to be announced from the stage It is one of the fascinating things nowadays of attending Andras Schiff’s recitals that he wants what he plays to be a surprise and nothing is known beforehand of what he will perform. Of course, it is also true that what he tends to perform recently –Continue reading “Andras Schiff, Wigmore Hall, 4/3/26”
Author Archives: John
John Adams, Nixon in China. Opera Bastille, Paris. 24/2/26
Kent Nagano, conductor; Valentina Carrasco, director; Carles Berga, set design; Peter Van Praet, lighting; Cast: Thomas Hampson, Richard Nixon; Renée Fleming, Pat Nixon; John Matthew Myers; Mao Zedong; Caroline Wettergreen, Chiang Ch’ing; Joshua Bloom, Henry Kissinger; Xiaomeng Zhang, Zhou Enlai. I was very pleased when I saw this was on Paris Opera’s 25/26 schedule –Continue reading “John Adams, Nixon in China. Opera Bastille, Paris. 24/2/26”
Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Wigmore Hall 23/2/26
Anthony Marwood violin; Coleman Itzkoff cello; Aleksandar Madžar piano. Shostakovich, Violin Sonata Op. 134; Tchaikovsky, Piano Trio in A minor Op. 50 As i travelled to London for an evening Wigmore Hall concert, prior to moving on the next day to Paris, I found myself thinking about the dire state of British politics. In frontContinue reading “Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Wigmore Hall 23/2/26”
Mozart, Cosi Fan Tutte. ENO, 19/2/26
Dinis Sousa conductor; Phelim McDermott, director; Tom Pye, designer; Laura Hopkins, costumes; Paule Constable, lighting. Lucy Crowe, Fiordiligi | Taylor Raven, Dorabella | Joshua Blue, Ferrando | Darwin Prakash, Guglielmo | Andrew Foster-Williams, Don Alfonso | Ailish Tynan, Despina plus circus skills ensemble I had heard good things about this production – 19th century NaplesContinue reading “Mozart, Cosi Fan Tutte. ENO, 19/2/26”
Thyrsus Trio: St Pancras Church, lunchtime, 19/2/26
Thyrsus Trio, Schubert Trio No. 1 in B-flat major D.898 The thyrsus, a quick check with Wikipedia suggests, is a kind of staff used in rituals “ typically associated with the Greek god Dionysus (and his subsequent Roman equivalent Bacchus) as a symbol of prosperity, fertility, and hedonism.”. It has to be said that StContinue reading “Thyrsus Trio: St Pancras Church, lunchtime, 19/2/26”
Weill/Brecht: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. ENO, 18/2/26
André de Ridder, conductor; Jamie Manton, director; Milla Clarke, designer; DM Wood, lighting designer. Cast: Rosie Aldridge, Leokadja Begbick; Kenneth Kellogg, Trinity Moses; Mark Le Brocq Fatty the Bookkeeper; Richard Trey Smagur, Jimmy MacIntyre; Alex Otterburn, Bank-Account Billy; Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Jack O’Brien; David Shipley, Alaska Wolf Joe; Danielle de Niese, Jenny Smith; Zwakele Tshabalala,Continue reading “Weill/Brecht: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. ENO, 18/2/26”
Shostakovich/Beethoven: Halle Orchestra, Bridgewater Hall. 12/2/26
Halle Orchestra, Kahchun Wong conductor; Jan Vogler cello. Unsuk Chin, subito con forza; Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1; Beethoven Symphony No.3, ‘Eroica This was a very absorbing and first-rate concert. I have never heard a live performance of the Shostakovich concerto before. And, actually and oddly, in fact I’ve not heard that many performances of theContinue reading “Shostakovich/Beethoven: Halle Orchestra, Bridgewater Hall. 12/2/26”
Consone Quartet, Music in the Round, Sheffield Crucible – 10/2/26
C Schumann (Arr. Tress) Three Romances; Mozart String Quartet in C ‘Dissonance’; Schubert String Quartet No.13 ‘Rosamunde’ The Corsone Quartet I thought I’d heard before and a bit of digging around my memory and the internet reminded me that I had heard them play some Mendelssohn chamber music in Sheffield about 18 months ago, andContinue reading “Consone Quartet, Music in the Round, Sheffield Crucible – 10/2/26”
Bruckner, RLPO, Hindoyan – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 6/2/26
Schubert: Overture, Rosamunde; Saint-Saens, Cello Concerto No 1; Bruckner, Symphony no 6. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Domingo Hindoyan; Guy Johnston, cello It must be nearly 10 years since I last heard Bruckner 6 live (in the distinguished hands of Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle, at the RAH Proms), so I was keen to goContinue reading “Bruckner, RLPO, Hindoyan – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 6/2/26 “
From Versailles to Leipzig via Venice: BBC Philharmonic, RNCM, 30/1/26
Lully Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Bach Selections from The Art of Fugue; Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets; Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin; Rameau Selections from Les Indes Galantes, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, and Dardanus. BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Jonathan Cohen director; Tom Fountain, Gwyn Owen trumpets; Jennifer Galloway oboe; Zoë Beyers violin I don’tContinue reading “From Versailles to Leipzig via Venice: BBC Philharmonic, RNCM, 30/1/26”
John's musical journey 