Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin – suite; Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major; Hannah Eisendle Heliosis (UK premiere); Dvořák Symphony No. 7 in D minor: Benjamin Grosvenor, piano; Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor I went to this concert primarily because I’d never heard the Vienna RSO live before, as far as IContinue reading “Bartok, Prokofiev, Eisendle, Dvorak: Vienna RSO, Alsop – RAH, 13/8/22“

Jean Sibelius, Tapiola; Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major’ Richard Strauss, Ein Heldenleben: Yuja Wang, piano; Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä – conductor Despite Norman Lebrecht’s lurid warnings (and I don’t deny his underlying thesis about the diminishing market for classical music) the Proms seems to be doing pretty well inContinue reading “Sibelius, Liszt, R Strauss – Oslo Philharmonic, Yuja Wang, Klaus Makela. RAH, 12/8/22“

Doreen Carwithen, Bishop Rock; Grace Williams, Sea Sketches; Ralph Vaughan Williams, A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1): Elizabeth Llewellyn, soprano; Jacques Imbrailo, baritone; BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Andrew Manze, conductorMy first Prom of the year….! After Norman Lebrecht’s dire warnings about ticket sales, I was wonderingContinue reading “Carwithen, Williams, Vaughan Williams: BBC NOW, Manze. RAH, 27/7/22”

Box-office leak: 3 in 4 tickets to the BBC Proms are going unsold – SlippediscSlippedisc | The inside track on classical music and related cultures, by Norman Lebrecht This was the shock-horror headline being put out by Normal Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc website this morning.  Although Norman enjoys his shock and horror, I am sure hisContinue reading “3 in 4 tickets for the Proms are going unsold”

Conductor, Lothar Koenigs; Production, David Marton; Set Design, Christian Friedländer; Costume Design, Pola Kardum; Lighting, Henning Streck.  Die Gräfin, Diana Damrau; Der Graf, Michael Nagy; Flamand, Pavol Breslik; Olivier, Vito Priante; La Roche, Kristinn Sigmundsson; Die Schauspielerin Clairon, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner; Monsieur Taupe, Toby Spence I have never heard Capriccio live and I thought thisContinue reading “R.Strauss, Capriccio – Bayerische Staatsoper / Prinzregentenstheater, Munich 17/07/22”

Christian Gerhaher, Anna Lucia Richter, Pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz: Wolf, Italienische liederbuche. My planning for this Munich trip was done a long time ago and at one point I wasn’t going to the Sunday performance of Capriccio. Hence I ended up not planning in advance anything to do on the Friday and Saturday evenings. On theContinue reading “Wolf song recital, Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 15/07/22”

Conductor, Ulf Schirmer (with the Gewandhaus Orchestra), Director and Designer,  Roland Aeschlimann;  Costumes, Susanne Raschi;  Lighting, Lukas Kaltenbäck.   Kundry, Elena Pankratova; Amfortas, Mathias Hausmann; Titurel,  Randall Jakobsh; Gurnemanz, Rene Pape; Parsifal, Andreas Schager; Klingsor, Falk Struckmann I booked this a long time ago, during one lockdown or other, when being able to go to WagnerContinue reading “Wagner, Parsifal – Oper Leipzig, 14/07/22”

Conductor, Edward Gardner; Production, Stefan Herheim; Set Design, Silke Bauer; Costume Design, Esther Bialas; Lighting, Michael Bauer.     Peter Grimes, Stuart Skelton; Ellen Orford, Rachel Willis-Sørensen; Balstrode, Iain Paterson; Auntie, Claudia Mahnke; Swallow, Brindley Sherratt; Mrs. Sedley, Jennifer Johnston; Ned Keene, Andrew Hamilton It’s ages since I last saw Peter Grimes live on stage – IContinue reading “Britten, Peter Grimes – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 12/07/22”

Conductor, Robert Jindra; Production; Barrie Kosky; Set Design, Michael Levine; Costume Design, Victoria Behr; Lighting, Franck Evin.    Forester, Wolfgang Koch; Forester’s Wife, Lindsay Ammann; The Schoolmaster, Jonas Hacker; The Priest, Martin Snell; Haraschta, Milan Siljanov, Pasek, Caspar Singh; The Vixen, Elena Tsallagova; Fox, Angela Brower. As I think I have mentioned before in this blog,Continue reading “Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 11/07/22”

Conductor, Daniele Rustioni; Production , Christophe Honoré; Set Design, Katrin Lea Tag; Costume Design , Olivier Bériot; Lighting, Dominique Bruguière. Cassandre, Jennifer Holloway; Hecuba, Emily Sierra; Ascagne, Eve-Maud Hubeaux; Didon, Ekaterina Semenchuk; Anna, Lindsay Ammann; Priam , Martin Snell; Enée, Gregory Kunde; Panthée, Sam Carl The first of my five musical events in Munich, havingContinue reading “Berlioz: Les Troyens – Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 10/07/22”