Elsa Dreisig: Invocation
This post was originally intended to run in parallel with a report on Elsa Dreisig’s Wigmore Hall recital on March 25: sadly, she had to cancel (replaced by Marianne Crebassa), but this new disc remains. […]
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Thomas Elwin & Friends: wonderful music & delectable nibbles from Millie Charrington in aid of MacMillan Cancer at the Voces8 Centre
Thomas Elwin as Nemorino in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with Wild Arts in 2023 (Photo: Bonnie Britain) Tenor Thomas Elwin is hosting a concert in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. For Thomas Elwin & Friends at the […]
The celebrated choral ensemble Tenebrae and the equally celebrated Britten Sinfonia joined forces in a devout concert for Holy Week
Graham Sutherland: The Crucifixion – St Matthew’s Church, Northampton Edmund Finnis, Allegri, Barber, Victoria, James MacMillan; Tenebrae, Britten Sinfonia, cond: Nigel Short; Snape Maltings Concert Hall, SuffolkReviewed by Tony Cooper, 2 April 2026 The Maundy […]
Three new bass clarinet concertos. Too much for one disc?
I was drawn to this disc for one reason. Joseph Phibbs. Seeing that he wrote a new work enticed me into acquiring this release from Toccata Classics. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have been terribly […]
Martha Argerich and Dong Hyek Lim at the Royal Festival Hall
Big names can mean big surprises: will they show? Will they play what they say they’ll play? I remember when Claudio Arrau played at the Royal Festival Hall back in the 1980s – the big […]
Decadent & modernist: I chat to director Max Hoehn & designer Darko Petrovic about working on the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon’s first staging of Wagner’s Tannhäuser for 30 years
Wagner: Tannhäuser – designs by Darko Petrovic, courtesy of Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon Later this month, the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon will be presenting a new production of Wagner’s […]
Drama & presence: Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Barbican with Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen, Nick Pritchard & Alex Rosen
Bach: St Matthew Passion – Alex Rosen (Jesus), Nick Pritchard (Evangelist), Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen at Barbican Hall (Photo: Ed Maitland Smith) Bach: St Matthew Passion; Nick Pritchard, Alex Rosen, Carolyn Sampson, Hugh Cutting, Hugo Hymas, […]
Andrew Downes’ “A St Luke Passion” (and other choral works)
On 27th March 2026, the record label Prima Facie released the premiere recording of Andrew Downes’ A St Luke Passion of 1993 (Op. 50) with the Philharmonia Voices and Orchestra under David Trippett. This is the first album in a trilogy of recordings of the large-scale […]
An “authentic” Rigoletto in Paris: Le Cercle d’Harmonie triumphs
Rigoletto Music: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave Cast: Rigoletto – Leonardo Lee; Gilda – Mei Gui Zhang; Duke of Mantua – Andrei Danilov; Sparafucile – Alexander Tsymbalyuk; Maddalena – Victoria Karkacheva; Count Monterone – […]
A sonic extravaganza: Alex Paxton’s Candyfolk Spacedrum demonstrates his gift for carefully crafted music that has the energy & engagement of a communal jam session.
Alex Paxton: Candyfolk Spacedrum: Alex Paxton, Jennifer Walshe, Riot Ensemble, Dreammusics Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Belham Primary School, David Ingamells, Jennifer Walshe; Jonah RecordsReviewed 25 March 2026 A sonic extravaganza where Paxton demonstrates not only his […]
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