20th Century Masterpieces – BRB
Three cheers for Sir Peter Wright and three cheers more for Birmingham Royal Ballet who drew balletic attention away from the capital for once to focus it firmly on England’s second city. Wright is now […]
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Living Voices: Whitehall Choir, Ian Tindale & Joanna Tomlinson to give premiere of Russell Hepplewhite’s choral cycle setting contemporary poets’ responses to the modern world
I first came across the composer Russell Hepplewhite in 2013 when English Touring Opera performed his opera Laika the Spacedog at the Science Museum in London [see my review]. Described as an opera in one act for […]
To encourage Birmingham’s young people to get involved with creative opportunities & training: Birmingham Opera Company’s Voices of the Future
Almost 1 million young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training. And in Birmingham, more than double the national average of young people are on Universal Credit and looking for […]
The Sixteen at St James’s: a new partnership providing the choir with its first London home
Harry Christophers, The Sixteen & Genesis Sixteen alumni at St James’s Piccadilly (Photo: Ian Jones Photography) The Sixteen first collaborated with St James’s Piccadilly back in 2019 when the church became the home for The […]
Puccini Orchestral Music
Rarities performed at the highest standards, both performative and in terms of recording, are themselves rare, so it is good to have Sinfonia of London under John Wilson in this sequence of early music by […]
American themes at Aldeburgh: Tony Cooper enjoys a quartet by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson & an absorbing orchestral programme highlighting Elizabeth Ogonek.
Sphinx Piano Quintet: Nathan Amaral, Elena Urioste, Celia Hatton, Sterling Elliott, Amiri Harewood – Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: BPA) Perkinson: String Quartet No.1 ‘Calvary’, Vaughan Williams: Rondo for Piano, Still: Suite for Cello and Piano, arr. Randall […]
Launch of UK Choir of the Year with applications open from 25 June
A new national competition is aiming to celebrate choral excellence. UK Choir of the Year is inviting amateur choirs in all genres from across the UK to compete with a final at Milton Court on […]
.jpg?w=510&resize=510,510&ssl=1 "Bringers of Dreams: BREMF Emerging Artists announced for the 2026 festival")
Bringers of Dreams: BREMF Emerging Artists announced for the 2026 festival
This year’s Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF), Bringers of Dreams, runs from 2 to 25 October 2026 with events focused on the four weekends. The BREMF Emerging Artist scheme is an important part of the Festival. […]
Truly captivating: bass baritone Nicola Alaimo & pianist Carlo Rizzi celebrate Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project with songs by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini & Mercadante
Carlo Rizzi & Nicola Alaimo recording Donizetti for Opera Rara (Photo: Simon Weir) Donizetti & Friends: Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini, Mercadante; Nicola Alaimo, Carlo Rizzi, Hetty Snell; Wigmore HallReviewed 16 June 2026 Superb bel canto technique […]
Glyndebourne’s first staging of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
It is truly astonishing to think that this is Glyndebourne’s first Monteverdi L’Orfeo. It is not the first Monteverdi there, though: both Poppea (first seen1962), and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (1972) have previously featured. […]
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