Pappano’s mixed “Tristan” at Barbican
This is surely Sir Antonio Pappano’s “Wagner period”: his recent Siegfried, the latest instrument of an ongoing Ring at RBO revealed, to my ears at least, his finest Wanger to date. He has, of course, […]
Classical Explorer
Haitink’s Bavarian Bruckner 7
This is not he first specifically Haitink Bruckner 7 on Classical Explorer: we did a short post on a DVD of a Vienna performance here. There is something about the gorgeous warmth of found of […]
Patterns in Repeat: Manchester Collective at Southbank Centre
Meredith Monk Stringsongs: IV. “Phantom Strings” (2004) Clarice Assad Sonic Landscapes: I. “Continuum” (2002) Meredith Monk Backlight (2015) Cassie Kinoshi ARTEFACT/AUTOMATON (2026, World Premiere) Cassandra Miller Perfect Offering (2021) Manchester Collective; Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, […]
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo revisited: Jordi Savall at Paris’ Opera Comique
After Glyndebourne’s thought-provoking L’Orfeo, it struck me it was a good idea to cover Jordi Savall’s 2000 Barcelona performance, staged by Pauline Bayle, first of all because the staging is a masterpiece of Minimalism (sets […]
Elisabeth Leonskaja’s Barbican recital
Elisabeth Leonskaja In Recital Barbican Hall, London, 24.06.2026 Mozart Piano Sonata No. 18 in D, K 576 (1789) Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (1821/22) Schubert Piano Sonata No. 15 in […]
Mysteria: pianist Svetlana Andreeva’s beautifully programmed disc
Ukrainian pianist Svetlana Andreeva (born Dzhankoy, a small town in Crimea) offers a beautiful programme of music, spellbindingly played. Age 15, Andreeva enrolled in the Central Music School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, later studying […]
René Benedetti’s miraculous Paganini
French virtuoso violinist René Benedetti was born in Toulon in 1901; the family moved to Paris when René’ father opened a music shop in Montmartre. Benedetti was something of a prodigy: he had lessons at […]
Handel’s Serse at Barbican
Most recently seen in March in a stunning Tamerlano at Shorreditch Town Hall as part of the 2026 London Handel Festival, Douglas Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music gave us Serse of 1738 (premiered […]
de Wert: Ninth Book of Madrigals
Netherlandish madrigalist Giaches de Wert (1535-96) spent much of his life in Italy, initially as choirboy to the Marchesa of Padulla (Salerno);he and was later court musician to counts of Nobellara, and the maestro di […]
Glazunov String Quartets: the Tippett Quartet
We first met the Tippett String Quartet via Penderecki Complete Music for String Quartet, also on Naxos, then live at Thaxted Festival. Now, one of the most cruelly under-rated composers out there: Alexander Glazunov (1865-1935). […]
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%20Richard%20Hubert%20Smith.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Modernising Gluck: English Touring Opera's new production of Orpheus and Eurydice puts a distinctly contemporary spin on the work")
