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, […]
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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 […]
Saxophones in the City: saxophonist Jess Gillam invites saxophonists & clarinettists to come & play for massed event as part of CBSO in the City festival
CBSO at New Street Station as part of CBSO in the City, 2024 (Photo: Hannah Fathers) As part of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO)’s 2026 CBSO in the City festival (27 to 31 […]
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 […]
Ask and ye shall receive. Orchestral works of Mel Bonis
That’s not necessarily a biblical quote coming from me (hardly!), but a phrase which is nonetheless apropos in this context. In my review of Trio Wanderer’s “Art Nouveau” collection of French chamber music, I loved […]
Giulio Cesare at the Grange: superb music performances compensate for David Alden’s scattershot approach to Handel’s masterpiece
Handel: Giulio Cesare – Zheng Jiang, Owen Willetts, Jess Dandy – The Grange Festival (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto; Tim Mead, Sarah Brady, Jess Dandy, Zheng Jiang, James Atkinson, director: David […]
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 […]
It’s all about the music: Opera Holland Park chorus & City of London Sinfonia on terrific form under Naomi Woo in powerful, celebratory Turandot
Puccini: Turandot – José de Eça – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Pablo Strong) Puccini: Turandot; Anne Sophie Duprels, José de Eça, Fflur Wyn, Jihoon Kim, Robert, Burt, Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, Joseph Buckmaster, Zwakele Tshabalala, director: Eleanor Burke, […]
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.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "BBC Proms: Bach's Mass writ large as Arcangelo give us choral bravura at Royal Albert Hall")
