| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 21-Mar-2013 Royal Northern College of Music | Shostakovich's Moscow, Cheryomushki at the RNCM |
 Shostakovich’s 1959 operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki (“Paradise Moscow”) is to date one of the most uncomfortable evenings I have ever spent in a theatre, though, I hasten to add, not because of the performance. The RNCM in recent years has presented some incredible shows, Barber’s tragic Vanessa and Monteverdi’s epic Ulisse, for example, and tonight’s performance from the singers, orchestra and director was excellent – but this rare example of the lighter Shostakovich is not an experience I would care to repeat.Read full review... | |
| 9-Dec-2012 Royal Northern College of Music | Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at the RNCM |
 Since its inception in 1972 the Royal Northern College of Music has gained a reputation for excellence in the field of opera, having often staged extraordinary productions of repertoire familiar and forgotten. Including everything from Britten’s Gloriana to Carmen and from Vaughan Williams’ Hugh the Drover to Barber’s Vanessa, the RNCM has made the courageous leap into the mid-17th-century with Monteverdi’s Greek epic Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, having never attempted the work before.
Read full review... | |
| 10-Aug-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 37: Elgar's The Apostles with The Hallé |
 If you’ve never been to a grand-scale choral work at the Royal Albert Hall, I’d urge you to do so at the earliest opportunity. This wasn’t my first visit to the Proms, and I’ve experienced oratorios, requiems and passions galore in other places, but to hear hundreds of accomplished singers filling this vast circular space was new territory for me. The hall seemed made for the occasion.
Read full review... | |
| 16-Jun-2012 Royal Northern College of Music | Opera Seria's debut production of Anna Bolena: A tremendous achievement |
 Lust, betrayal, beheadings. The words appeared prominently in the publicity for Opera Seria’s debut production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, bringing Horrible Histories fleetingly to mind, but they do sum up the plot of one of the composer’s greatest works rather well. Henry VIII is intent on freeing himself from Anne Boleyn, his second wife, and has Jane Seymour, her lady-in-waiting, lined up to be his third. His plan is to find ‘evidence’ that Anne is adulterous by inviting her first love, Lord Richard Percy, back to England from exile.Read full review... | |
