Category Archives: Uncategorized

HAYDN Op.33 no.4 in B flat major; DVOŘÁK Selection from Cypresses, B11; ELGAR Early quartet fragments; MENDELSSOHN Op.44 no.1 in D major –  Victoria String Quartet I have now got my hearing fully restored. How nice to hear things properly…. As you can see this was at the Stoller Hall, part of Chetham’s Music SchoolContinue reading “Haydn, Dvorak, Elgar, Mendelssohn: Victoria String Quartet, Stoller Hall, Manchester 17/6/22”

Richard Farnes, CONDUCTOR; Sam Brown, DIRECTOR; Bengt Gomér, SET & LIGHTING DESIGNER; Stephen Rodwell COSTUME AND WIGS; Toby Spence, PARSIFAL; Katarina Karnéus, KUNDRY; Robert Hayward, AMFORTAS, Derek Welton, KLINGSOR; Brindley Sherratt, GURNEMANZ; Stephen Richardson, TITUREL. Opera North Chorus and Orchestra This was for me a much looked-forward-to concert. The Bridgewater Hall was – as itContinue reading “Opera North: Wagner Parsifal: Bridgewater Hall, 12/06/22”

BRITTEN Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes, ADÈS Inferno Suite, WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast. The Hallé with Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and Leeds Festival Chorus; Conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, Baritone, Benjamin Nelson This sounded like a very good concert though my hearing is a bit all over the place till Tuesday afternoon (visit to clinic). The City HallContinue reading “The Hallé with Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and Leeds Festival Chorus: Britten / Ades / Walton: Sheffield City Hall – 11/06/22”

CAST: Bradley Daley SIEGFRIED; Adrian Dwyer MIME; Paul Carey Jones THE WANDERER; Mark Stone ALBERICH; Simon Wilding FAFNER; Julieth Lozano WALDVOGEL; Mae Heydorn ERDA; Lee Bisset BRÜNNHILDE; CONDUCTOR Anthony Negus; DIRECTOR Amy Lane; SET AND PROPS DESIGNER Rhiannon Newman Brown; LIGHTING DESIGNER Charlie Morgan Jones; COSTUME DESIGNER Emma Ryott What is it with Wagner andContinue reading “Wagner: Siegfried; Longborough Festival Opera – 05/06/22”

COPLAND Duo for Flute & Piano; WEIR Airs from Another Planet; MOZART Quintet for im Horton’s Piano and Wind in E flat K452: Ensemble 360 Not really a great deal to say here. I found the Copland work as undistinguished as other works I have come across of his recently. It was very well performedContinue reading “Copland/Weir/Mozart: Ensemble 360; Sheffield Crucible studio 20/5/22”

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas No.30 in E Op.109; No.31 in A flat Op.110; 32 in C minor Op.111; WALLEN The Negro Speaks of Rivers; FRANCES-HOAD Invocation; BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata Op.102 No.2 Tim Horton, Ensemble 360 These are very difficult works to listen to with many incidental – indeed transcendental –  beauties,  but often with quirks andContinue reading “Beethoven/Wallen/Hoad: Ensemble 360; Sheffield Crucible studio 20/5/22”

Director, David Alden; Set designer Paul Steinberg; Costume designer, Gideon Davey; Lighting designer, Adam Silverman. Conductor, Jakub Hruša; Brandon Jovanovich, Lohengrin; Jennifer Davis, Elsa; Maida Hundeling, Ortrud; Craig Colclough, Telramund; Gábor Bretz, King Henry This is only the third live production I’ve been to of Lohengrin. The first was in 1972 at Bayreuth (a WolfgangContinue reading “Wagner, Lohengrin: ROHCG, 11/05/22”

Richard Strauss: Don Juan, Burleske, Also sprach Zarathustra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons conductor, Rudolf, Buchbinder, piano All the paeans of praise about this great orchestra from last night are equally applicable again tonight. A few points I perhaps missed out: There was so much to enjoy in this second concert – in Don Juan, theContinue reading “Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons: R.Strauss. Barbican 10/05/22”

Dinara Klinton piano: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111; Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 8 in B flat Op. 84 The Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship was won in 2014 by Ukrainian-born Dinara Klinton who currently combines the role of Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music with her career asContinue reading “Dinara Klinton piano, Wigmore Hall, lunchtime 10/5/22”

Richard Strauss: Macbeth, Der Rosenkavalier suite, Ein Heldenleben: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons conductor The concert was supposed to be the first of four this week, with not only the Leipzig but also the Boston Symphony, Nelsons’ two orchestras, and featuring with the BSO at the Festival Hall the Alpine Symphony, the Sinfonia Domestica, Lisa DavidsenContinue reading “Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons: R.Strauss. Barbican 09/05/22”