Author Archives: John

I saw Boris Godunov last week at Covent Garden. I thought the performance was a mixed affair really. Part of the problem is the multifarious editions of the music – this was supposedly the original, which doesn’t have a Polish Act, and doesn’t have the extra colour of Rimsky-Korsakov’s edition. It ends with Boris dying,Continue reading “Boris Godunov at ROHCG”

I went to a – very good indeed – Mahler 5 with Rattle and the LSO at the Barbican in mid-May. This seemed to me to work well – unlike his conducting sometimes with the Berlin Phil, Rattle was not trying to over-beautify it, and the Adagietto felt moving rather than simply sounding lush andContinue reading “May/June 2019”

I listened via I-Player to the performance by Haitink and the LSO of Bruckner 4, which I thought was really excellent – there’s also an LSO video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00JMlBYgc7k is the 4th movement. IMHO, Bruckner is a tricky mix of Schubert, Wagner and God: if you produce a sound that’s too lyrical and light, orContinue reading “Haitink, Bruckner and Mahler – March/April 2019”

Still March 2019 On Wednesday I went to a Halle Orchestra rehearsal in the afternoon, – from 1400 to 1645 – a perk of giving them some money on a regular base. The conductor was a young Brit called Jamie Phillips, who seems to be gathering a reputation working with regional German and French orchestrasContinue reading “Still more 2019”

March 2019 More cinema opera in Sheffield this week – the Covent Garden Traviata on Wednesday, which was great! Obviously, I couldn’t compare it visually – either in terms of acting or sets – with the Met one, but I did think Ermolena Jaho was absolutely amazing as an actor, and with the sort ofContinue reading “More 2019”

I went to a cinema showing of the Berlin Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert – Barenboim performing a Mozart Piano Concerto (26) and conducting as well, plus 4 Ravel pieces, played one after the other – almost, as Barenboim said, like a Spanish Symphony– the Rhapsodie Espagnole, the Alborado del Gracioso, the Pavane, and theContinue reading “The beginning of 2019”