Category Archives: Uncategorized

London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle conductor; Amanda Majeski  Katya; Simon O’Neill  Boris; Katarina Dalayman  Kabanicha; Andrew Staples  Tichon; Ladislav Elgr  Kudrjas; Magdalena Kožená  Varvara; Pavlo Hunka, Dikoj; Claire Barnett-Jones, Glasha & Feklusha; Lukáš Zeman, Kuligin; London Symphony Chorus I’ve not seen many productions of this work. I got to know it through multiple visitsContinue reading “Janacek: Katya Kabanova. LSO/Rattle Barbican 11/1/23”

Kirill Petrenko conductor, Jonas Kaufmann tenor. Giuseppe Verdi La forza del destino: Overture; Sergei Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpt); Nino Rota La strada, Orchestral Suite (excerpts); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Capriccio italien, op. 45 and arias by Verdi, Mascagni, Zandonai and GiordanoThis was a very enjoyable concert. Beforehand, members of the BPO had formed themselves intoContinue reading “New Year’s Eve Concert 2022, Berliner Philharmoniker, streamed from Philharmonie Berlin to Sheffield Showroom cinema – 31/12/22”

These were (not in any particular order): 2022 Vivaldi: Bajazet – ROHCG; Linbury Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben – Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Barbican Wagner: Lohengrin – ROHCG Wagner : Parsifal – Opera North Janacek: Cunning Little Vixen – Bayern Staatsoper Handel: Alcina – ROHCG Wagner: Siegfried – Bayreuth Festival Mahler: Symphony No 7 – Berlin Philharmonic,Continue reading “Top ten performances I went to in 2022, and also 2021”

Martyn Brabbins, conductor; Ruth Knight, director; Ian Jackson-French, lighting designer. Cast – Christine Rice, Queen Elizabeth I; Robert Murray, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; Paula Murrihy, Frances, Countess of Essex; Duncan Rock, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy; Eleanor Dennis, Penelope (Lady Rich); Charles Rice, Sir Robert Cecil; David Soar, Sir Walter Raleigh; Claire Barnett-Jones,  a housewife;Continue reading “Britten, Gloriana – ENO London Coliseum 8/12/22”

Winterreise is yet another work I am not sure I have ever heard live in the concert hall (though I am pretty sure I have heard at various times Die Schone Mullerin and Schwanengesang). I got to know Winterreise as a student through the Britten / Pears recording so I always have a tenor inContinue reading “Schubert: Winterreise; Allan Clayton, Kate Golla: Barbican 07/12/22”

Sibelius The Oceanides & Tapiola; Bruckner Symphony No 7: London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle The link in the programming here – quite a tenuous one, really – is ‘landscapes in sound’. This is fairly obvious in the two Sibelius pieces, much less so for the Bruckner, where the association is meant, I suppose, toContinue reading “Sibelius / Bruckner – LSO/Rattle: Barbican, 1/12/22”

Louise Drewett The Daymark (world premiere); Ravel Piano Concerto in G major; Shostakovich Symphony No 11, The Year 1905:  London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda conductor, Alice Sara Ott piano Not a great deal in common between these three pieces, one might have thought in advance. Perhaps in retrospect there are connections between the new DrewettContinue reading “Noseda/LSO – Shostakovich: Barbican – 24/11/22”

Antony Hermus, conductor; Orchestra of Opera North; Alice Coote, Orfeo; Fflur Wyn, Euridice; Daisy Brown, Amor. Manchester was in a state of some chaos when I arrived at Piccadilly station. – the tram service wasn’t working in the central zone, and there were huge traffic jams. It took a while to work out what toContinue reading “Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice. Opera North, Lowry Theatre, Salford – 19/11/22”

Director, Richard Jones; Designer, Antony Mcdonald; Lighting Designer, Lucy Carter; Conductor, Christian Curnyn; Alcina, Lisette Oropesa; Ruggiero, Emily D’Angelo; Morgana, Mary Bevan; Bradamante, Varduhi Abrahamyan; Oronte, Rupert Charlesworth; Atlante, José Coca Loza This will definitely be in my top ten list for 2022. It was for the most part extremely well sung and very cleverlyContinue reading “Handel, Alcina: ROHCG, 10/11/22“

Shostakovich: String Quartet No.13 in B flat minor, Op.138; String Quartet No.14 in F sharp, Op.142; Shostakovich: String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144. Emerson Quartet This was the fifth and last of the Emerson’s cycle of Shostakovich string quartets in London this year – 3 quartets per concert. It was also apparently theirContinue reading “Emerson Quartet, Shostakovich. Queen Elizabeth Hall, 9/11/22“