Just as the Philharmonia Orchestra is using VR to enable people find out what it is like to join a live orchestra [see my article]. Another project is doing something similar but with a real […]
Handel’s Italians: Italian castrati in the London oratorios – music from Handel’s Esther, Deborah, Athalia, Belshazzar, Messiah, Theodora; Carlo Vistoli, Giulia Semenzato, Le Concert d’Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm; Harmonia MundiReviewed 1 September 2026 This rather imaginative recital focuses on music from […]
Øyvind Torvund Symphonic Poem No. 1, “Forest Morning” (2019, first Proms performance) Stravinsky Violin Concerto in D major (1933) Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (1935/6), excerpts The first thing to notice here is the title, taken […]
.jpg?w=510&resize=510,510&ssl=1 "Celebrating the eclectic life of pioneering crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale: Electric Voice Theatre at Conway Hall for Bloomsbury Festival")
“For a married woman with children, to become a first class scientist she must first of all choose, the right husband” Dame Kathleen Lonsdale Crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903–1971) was the first female professor […]
E. H. Shepard – Illustration to page 3 of Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) Nigel Foster’s London Song Festival is back this autumn with nine concerts from 5 November to 11 December under the banner of “Reaching Out […]
Philharmonia Orchestra’s Virtual Orchestra: Play Along (Photo: Marc Gascoigne) The Southbank Centre’s Creative Intelligence festival (11 to 13 September 2026) takes its inspiration from the Festival of Britain 75 years ago by exploring how artists, […]
Here we have another wonderful string quartet which I had not encountered before – one which exemplifies supreme excellence in modern-day string quartet playing. The Seikilos Quartet was founded in 2011 within the Spanish National […]
.jpg?w=510&resize=510,510&ssl=1 "By turns ravishing & spine-tingling: period instrument orchestra Les Siècles is the star of the show in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the BBC Proms conducted by Jakob Lehmann")
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust – Les Siècles – BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Mark Allan) Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust; John Osborn, Véronique Gens, Gerard Finley, Chœur de Radio France and Maîtrise de Radio France, Les […]
Last week’s five sold-out performances of The Magic Flute at Arcola Theatre (25 – 29 August, 2026, within the framework of the annual Grimeborn Festival, July to September) have shown how much impact such productions can make, even at small […]
Anthony Davis: The Central Park Five – Long Beach Opera 2022 (Photo: JJ Geiger) I first came across the case of the Central Park Five when I read Joan Didion’s essay Sentimental Journeys first published in the […]
.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Celebrating the eclectic life of pioneering crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale: Electric Voice Theatre at Conway Hall for Bloomsbury Festival")
