Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major; Bartók – Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. Dorottya Láng, Judith; Krisztián Cser, Duke Bluebeard. Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer conductor This was a late choice of Prom – it was one I flagged up when booking, decided against, dithered, and finally bought a ticket for…..The BFO and Fischer are alwaysContinue reading “Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer. RAH, BBC Proms, 6/8/25”
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Boulez / Mahler – BBCSO, Lintu. RAH, BBC Proms 4/8/25
Boulez, Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna; Mahler Das klagende Lied (original version, 1880). Natalya Romaniw soprano; Jennifer Johnston mezzo-soprano; Russell Thomas tenor; James Newby baritone. Constanza Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu conductor It is now 57 years since I went to my first Prom. I missed out on them for manyContinue reading “Boulez / Mahler – BBCSO, Lintu. RAH, BBC Proms 4/8/25”
Faure, Penelope, Bayern Staatsoper, Prinzregententheater, Munich, 23/7/25
Conductor, Susanna Mälkki; Director, Andrea Breth; Designer, Raimund Orfeo Voigt; Costumes, Ursula Renzenbrink; Lighting, Alexander Koppelmann. Ulysse, Brandon Jovanovich; Eumée, Thomas Mole; Antinoüs, Loïc Félix; Eurymaque, Leigh Melrose; Léodès, Joel Williams; Ctésippe , Zachary Rioux; Pisandre, Dafydd Jones; A Shepherd, Soloist(s) of the Tölz Boys’ Choir; Pénélope, Victoria Karkacheva; Euryclée, Rinat Shaham; Cléone, Valerie EickhoffContinue reading “Faure, Penelope, Bayern Staatsoper, Prinzregententheater, Munich, 23/7/25”
R.Strauss, Die Liebe der Danae, Bayern Staatsoper, Munich 22/7/25
Conductor, Sebastian Weigle; Director, Claus Guth; Designer, Michael Levine; Costumes, Ursula Kudrna; Lighting, Alessandro Carletti; Jupiter, Christopher Maltman; Mercury, Ya-Chung Huang; Pollux, Vincent Wolfsteiner; Danae, Malin Byström; Xanthe, Erika Baikoff; Midas, Andreas Schager; Four Kings, Martin Snell, Bálint Szabó, Paul Kaufmann, Kevin Conners; Semele, Sarah Dufresne; Europe, Evgeniya Sotnikova; Alkmene, Emily Sierra; Leda, Avery Amereau IContinue reading “R.Strauss, Die Liebe der Danae, Bayern Staatsoper, Munich 22/7/25”
2nd Festival Baroque concert, Cuvilliés Theatre, Munich, 21/7/25
Violin, Verena-Maria Fitz,Clara Scholtes; Viola, Johanna Maurer; Cello, Allan Bergius; Zinc (which I think means cornet – presumably a high Bach trumpet), Gebhard David; Conductor and organ; Stefan Steinemann; Augsburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir I was to be off from Berlin at 1028 am, allegedly, on a train to Munich, though in fact it didn’t arriveContinue reading “2nd Festival Baroque concert, Cuvilliés Theatre, Munich, 21/7/25”
Weill/Brecht, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; Deutsche Oper Berlin, 20/7/25
Conductor, Stefan Klingele; Director, Benedikt von Peter; Design, Katrin Wittig; Costumes, Geraldine Arnold; Lighting, Ulrich Niepel; Leokadja Begbick, Evelyn Herlitzius; Fatty, Thomas Cilluffo. Dreieinigkeitsmoses, Robert Gleadow; Jenny Hill, Annette Dasch; Jim Mahoney, Nikolai Schukoff; Jack O’Brian, Kieran Carrel; Bill, Artur Garbas; Joe, Padraic Rowan I spent the morning, as I have done whenever I haveContinue reading ” Weill/Brecht, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; Deutsche Oper Berlin, 20/7/25″
R. Strauss, Die Schweigsame Frau, Thielemann, Staatsoper, Berlin, 19/7/25
Conductor, Christian Thielemann; Production: Jan Philipp Gloger; Design, Ben Baur; Costumes: Justina Klimczyk; Lighting: Tobias Krauß; Video: Leonard Wölfl; Choreography: Florian Hurler; Sir Morosus: Peter Rose; His housekeeper, Iris Vermillion; Barber Cutting Beard: Samuel Hasselhorn; Henry Morosus: Siyabonga Maqungo; Aminta, his wife: Brenda Rae; Isotta: Evelin Novak; Carlotta: Rebecka Wallroth; Morbio: Dionysios Avgerinos; Vanuzzi: ManuelContinue reading “R. Strauss, Die Schweigsame Frau, Thielemann, Staatsoper, Berlin, 19/7/25”
Ning Feng, Wigmore Hall 16/7/25
Ning Feng, violin; Yeol Eum Son, piano. Stravinsky, Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss; Alfred Schnittke, Violin Sonata No. 1; Szymanowski, 3 Paganini Caprices Op. 40; Prokofiev, Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Op. 94bis This was another of those concerts I would never have made the effort to go to specially but went because IContinue reading “Ning Feng, Wigmore Hall 16/7/25”
Poulenc/Bernstein. Buxton Festival, Buxton Opera House, 15/7/24
Iwan Davies Conductor, Daisy Evans Director, Loren Elstein Designer, Jake Wiltshire Lighting Designer. CAST – Trouble in Tahiti: Charles Rice – Sam, a businessman; Hanna Hipp, Dinah, his wife; La voix humaine – Allison Cook, Elle This was an absorbing evening which I very much enjoyed. The conductor Iwan Davies, and the director Daisy Evans,Continue reading “Poulenc/Bernstein. Buxton Festival, Buxton Opera House, 15/7/24”
Beethoven etc. Wigmore Soloists. Buxton Festival, St John’s Church, 15/7/24
F Berwald Grand Septet in B flat major. C Nielsen Serenata in Vano. L van Beethoven Septet in E Flat, Op. 2 Wigmore Soloists is intended to be a new super-group of chamber music players, led by the clarinettist, Michael Collins. It clearly has a flexible group of players – two of the musicians inContinue reading “Beethoven etc. Wigmore Soloists. Buxton Festival, St John’s Church, 15/7/24”
John's musical journey 