Category Archives: Uncategorized

Director, Adele Thomas; Set and costume designer, Molly O’Cathain, conductor, Peter Whelan; orchestra: Irish Baroque Orchestra. Cast: –  Bajazet: Gianluca Margheri; Tamerlano: James Laing; Asteria: Niamh O’Sullivan; Andronicus: Eric Jurenas; Irene: Claire Booth; Idaspe: Aoife Miskelly Director, Adele Thomas; Set and costume designer, Molly O’Cathain, conductor, Peter Whelan; orchestra: Irish Baroque Orchestra. Cast: –  Bajazet:Continue reading “Vivaldi: Bajazet – Linbury Theatre, ROHCG, 5/2/21 7.15pm”

Director, Jonathan Kent; Revival Director, Amy Lane; Designer, Paul Brown, conductor Marco Amiliato. Cast – Floria Tosca: Angela Gheorghiu; Mario Cavaradossi: Stefan Pop; Baron Scarpia: Michael Volle; Spoletta: Aled Hall; Cesare Angelotti: Chuma Sijeqa I last saw this production about 4 years ago. Like Rigoletto, there is only a limited amount a production team can do (with? to?) Tosca –Continue reading “Puccini: Tosca – ROHCG, dress rehearsal, 5/2/21 11.30 am”

Director, Katie Mitchell; Set designer, Chloe Lamford; Conductor, Harry Bicket. Cast – Theodora: Julia Bullock; Irene: Joyce DiDonato; Didymus: Jakub Józef Orlinski; Septimius: Ed Lyon; Valens: Gyula Orendt; Marcus: Thando Mjandana It’s interesting that while we place huge emphasis now on what musical performance practice would sound like for Handel, and what authentic instrumental soundsContinue reading “Handel: Theodora – ROHCG 4/2/21”

Director – Bartlett Sher; Designer Michael Yeargan; Quinn Kelsey, Rigoletto; Rosa Feola, Gilda; Piotr Beczała, Duke of Mantua; Sparafucile, Andrea Mastroni;  conductor Daniele Rustioni This is the first cinema screening from the Met or ROHCG I’ve been to since the start of the pandemic. The last one was a Met performance of Handel’s Agrippina inContinue reading “CINEMA Screening: Rigoletto, Verdi: Metropolitan Opera / Rustioni 29/1/22”

This was the first time I’ve heard the RLPO live in their home base and, indeed, the first time I’ve heard them at all since the 1970s, when they were, I remember, conducted by Charles Groves. They sounded a bit ropey then – now they sound like an extremely fine band. Their hall lacks reverberation,Continue reading “Bruckner 8: RLPO, Hindoyan: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 27/1/22”

Mahler Symphony No.3: Sir Mark Elder, conductor | Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano | Sopranos and altos of the Hallé Choir | Hallé Children’s Choir This was a hugely enjoyable performance, all the more special because the massed ranks of orchestral players and choristers present on stage, and the sold-out Bridgewater Hall audience packed in to hearContinue reading “Mahler 3: Halle/Elder/Coote: Bridgewater Hall 23/1/22”

Bach, Cello suites 1 & 3; Ensemble 360 cellist, Gemma Rosefield, Gemma Rosefield, in a brief interaction with the audience between the two suites, told us that she was playing on a cello made in Naples in 1704 by Alessandro Gagliano, and was formerly owned and played by George IV. Thus, it had been madeContinue reading “Bach / Rosefield  MITR, Sheffield Upper Chapel 21/1/22”

BACH Prelude & Fugue in C from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I; SCHUMANN Ten Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Wieck Op.5; PROKOFIEV Visions fugitives; BYRD Fantasia in A minor; LIGETI Etude No.10 Der Zauberlehrling; SCHUBERT Fantasie in C Wanderer Fantasy. Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano) This was my first live concert in nearly 6 weeks.Continue reading “Bach/Mozart/Schubert/Byrd/Prokofiev/Schumann/Ligeti – Momen, MITR Sheffield Crucible Studio”

Bach Flute Sonata in E flat BWV1031 – II. Siciliano (arranged by Wilhelm Kempff)[ Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin BWV1004 (arranged by Ferruccio Busoni); Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor Op. 14; Liszt, Schwanengesang S560 – Ständchen ‘Leise flehen meine Lieder’; Rhapsodie espagnole S254 George Harliono isContinue reading “George Harliono, piano – Bach, Prokofiev, Liszt: Wigmore Hall 8/12/21”

Anthony Negus, conductor; Matthew Rose (Wotan), Rachel Nicholls (Brünnhilde), Nicky Spence (Siegmund), Emma Bell (Sieglinde), Brindley Sherratt (Hunding), and Susan Bickley (Fricka). Director Richard Jones; design Stewart Laing After waiting for a long time to see this production, and having been discouraged by the broadly negative responses in the main-stream press (the most positive IContinue reading “Wagner, The Valkyrie – ENO Coliseum, London 7/12/21”