| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 18-May-2013 St John's Smith Square | Baroque on the high seas: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Carolyn Sampson at Lufthansa |
 Marco Borggreve.jpg) The title reflecting a countertenor aria from Henry Purcell’s Ode to St Cecilia, “’tis Nature’s Voice” was the overall theme of this year’s Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, which drew to a spectacular close on Saturday. Attracting some high-calibre soloists and ensembles, this year has seen concerts by the Gabrieli Consort, the European Union Baroque Orchestra, and the Choir of Westminster Abbey, among others, all on a theme of nature.Read full review... | |
| 3-May-2013 Kings Place: Hall One | Bach unwrapped through brass: Onyx Brass at Kings Place |
 I must admit that Bach through Brass, as this concert was entitled, filled me with a certain amount of trepidation. Bach, on instruments for which the music in the programme was not designed, on instruments which were not even around in Bach’s time (at least not in their modern-day form), did not sound immediately appealing; nevertheless, something drew me in, and I was pleasantly surprised.
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| 1-May-2013 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall | Ideas, ideals, and influences: A Child of Our Time at The Rest is Noise with the LPO and Wigglesworth |
 Southbank Centre’s The Rest is Noise festival has a number of strands of thought permeating its concerts. It explores the effects of war, sex and sexuality, politics, and race on some of the 20th century’s most important musical output. The underlying argument behind putting on this extraordinary series of events is that the music, much of which we know and love, cannot be understood properly without understanding the context in which it was written.
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| 29-Apr-2013 The London Coliseum | Refreshingly unfussy: Jonathan Miller's classic La bohème revived at ENO |
 What to do with a “classic revival” that has, in the main, met the critics’ eye of approval? That was the question facing Natascha Metherell, the revival director of ENO’s production of La bohème, which opened this week at the Coliseum. The revival was in fact deftly handled: a production which remained faithful to Miller’s original vision, with honest, rather than over-egged, sentimentality.
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| 20-Apr-2013 Kings Place: Hall One | Echoes of Bach: Principal players of Aurora Orchestra at Kings Place |
 “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, goes the familiar phrase, and that can be applied in life to any number of things, including music. Were the father of harmony, Johann Sebastian Bach, still alive today, he would be beyond flattered.Read full review... | |
| 16-Apr-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | A fitting tribute to Sir Colin Davis: LSO and a superb cast perform Britten's The Turn of the Screw |
 Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s contribution to the Britten 100 celebrations, was supposed to have been conducted by Sir Colin Davis; it was instead dedicated to his memory following his death last Sunday. Before the concert began, LSO Chairman and Sub-Leader Lennox Mackenzie and LSO Managing Director Kathryn McDowell delivered an eloquent and fitting tribute to the man they described as the “head of our family”.Read full review... | |
| 3-Apr-2013 Wigmore Hall | Britten, Bridge and a co-commission: Britten Sinfonia at Wigmore Hall |
 The centenary of Britten’s birth has seen a surge in performances of his music both in the concert hall and on the stages of many a noted opera house. Sensationalised biographies, radio and television programmes, and a number of Britten-centred festivals have helped to pique further interest in a composer whose music tends to attract a love-hate relationship with its listeners. Unsurprisingly, Britten Sinfonia is in the midst of a busy year of imaginative concerts and hotly anticipated collaborations.
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| 24-Mar-2013 Institut Français (French Institute): Library | Traversing the globe: Ferenc Vizi at the Institut Français |
 In a quiet backstreet just a couple of minutes’ walk from South Kensington underground station stands the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni. It is one branch of a global network that exists to promote cross-cultural dialogue and to showcase the best of French culture, be that through food, media, or music. The Art Deco building boasts a ciné lumière and a wood-panelled library, and it was the latter that formed the venue for an intimate piano recital given by the pianist Ferenc Vizi as part of the Institut’s recent festival It’s all about Piano!
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| 17-Mar-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | Stupendously good: The LA Phil and Dudamel explore colour at the Barbican |
 The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra’s residency at the Barbican has been a huge success. Rather than churn out time-honoured family favourite pieces of classical music, the orchestra has seized the opportunity to showcase its prowess in the performance of new music – three European premières including John Adams’ powerful passion-oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary, as well as Claude Vivier’s colourful Zipangu were in the mix.Read full review... | |
| 14-Mar-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | To make you think: LA Phil New Music Group with Dudamel and Adams at the Barbican |
 The Barbican has scored itself something of a winner in securing the Los Angeles Philarmonic Orchestra to fulfil its International Associate Residency.Read full review... | |
| 8-Mar-2013 Cadogan Hall | Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra performs a pan-European programme at Cadogan Hall |
 In its sixth season, the Zurich International Concert Series has attracted some well-known, but less-heard orchestral names to London. The series enables the full force of orchestras to be heard in the relatively intimate space of Cadogan Hall, which is otherwise famous for attracting chamber ensembles of the highest calibre.
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| 28-Feb-2013 Guildhall School Theatre | High drama and hilarity: Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
 Despite a relatively easy-to-follow storyline, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro is an opera that is hard to pull off entirely successfully. Musically, it requires enormous vigour from both cast and orchestra; dramatically, this opera buffa demands strong acting skills in order to eke out its moments of farce. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s production made very good efforts on both counts, though it was not without flaw.
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| 15-Feb-2013 The London Coliseum | Sarah Connolly tops a stellar cast in ENO's production of Charpentier's Medea |
 When going to see a new production at ENO, always expect the unexpected. In ENO’s recent history, that has certainly been true, though not always to its credit. Friday’s opening performance of Charpentier’s Medea was no exception to the rule; however, in this case, it was an opulent, stylish and fabulous (in more than one sense) production, complemented by a truly spectacular cast.
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| 20-Jan-2013 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall | Philharmonia, John Wilson, Leon McCawley: 20th-century English music at the Royal Festival Hall |
 C Sheila Rock.jpg) As London became a vision in white and all went quiet, the Southbank Centre was abuzz with all manner of arts-related activities. One rail replacement bus and a brisk walk behind me, I had made it to see the Philharmonia Orchestra’s matinee concert of 20th-century English music, framed around John Ireland’s Piano Concerto.
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| 20-Dec-2012 Cadogan Hall | Nowell sing we now: The King's Singers at Cadogan Hall |
 The King’s Singers epitomise a cappella musicianship. The group was originally formed in the 1960s by choral scholars of King’s College, Cambridge (and one from Christ Church, Oxford), but its current membership includes members who were previously choral scholars at Oxford, and even one member from New Zealand. With a relatively young line-up compared to previous incarnations of the group, The King’s Singers’ international repute remains – in 2012, they performed around 120 concerts worldwide.
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| 13-Dec-2012 Barbican Centre: Hall | Handel's Belshazzar at the Barbican with Les Arts Florissants |
 Handel’s Belshazzar was the oratorio of choice for renowned music group Les Arts Florissants at the Barbican last week. The group was famously set up in France in 1979 by the American-born William Christie, eventually becoming an international household name for its critically acclaimed performances and recordings of Baroque operas on period instruments. Having previously only heard Les Arts Florissants in recorded form, they had much to live up to for me as a live act.
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| 24-Oct-2012 Cadogan Hall | The Day of Thy Power: The Tallis Scholars at Cadogan Hall |
 The programme for this concert – entitled “The Day of Thy Power” – comprised Robert Fayrfax’s Missa Tecum principium, and Tallis’ Lamentations I and II. In both Fayrfax’s and Tallis’ time, there was great political, social and religious unrest and change; the arrival of the Tudors and the actions of each successive heir to the throne brought tumult to England and beyond.Read full review... | |
| 23-Oct-2012 New Theatre | Welsh National Opera at the New Theatre, Oxford: Handel's Jephtha |
 and WNO Chorus - Credit Bill Cooper_9.jpg) Handel’s Jephtha is an oratorio, rather than an opera. However, the story is one of high drama and emotion, and thus the work lends itself easily to operatic adaptation. The oratorio relates the story of Jephtha from the Book of Judges, in which the exiled illegitimate son of Gilead, leader of the Israelites, vows to God that if he should be victorious in battle against the Ammonites, he will sacrifice as a burnt-offering the first person to greet him upon his return. He is indeed victorious, and his daughter Iphis runs out to welcome him.
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| 17-Oct-2012 The London Coliseum | Rufus Norris' Don Giovanni returns to ENO |
 Three years ago, John Berry, ENO’s Artistic Director, invited acclaimed theatre director Rufus Norris to reinvent Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Unfortunately, it was not much of a success, and was panned by critics. This year, the production has returned to ENO, with some changes, albeit none that are particularly remarkable.
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| 10-Oct-2012 King's Head Theatre, Islington | OperaUpClose performs Puccini's Tosca at the King's Head Theatre |
 The King’s Head Theatre in Islington is, as one might suspect from the name, in the back of a pub. Founded in 1970, it was the first pub theatre to open in London since Shakespeare’s time. Housed in a back room that used to contain a boxing ring, it is tiny: tightly packed seating for maybe 60 or 70 people and an unelevated stage, beginning where the seating stops. In 2010, Adam Spreadbury-Maher was announced as artistic director of the theatre, and his company OperaUpClose became resident there.
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| 22-Sep-2012 Wigmore Hall | The Nash Ensemble: Dreamers of Dreams at the Wigmore Hall |
 As I took my seat at Saturday’s concert by the Nash Ensemble, one in a series entitled “Dreamers of Dreams” put on as part of their residency at the Wigmore Hall, I wondered what I was about to let myself in for. That the Nash Ensemble had chosen to present the works of early 20th-century composers was not especially surprising – after all, they are known for unusual, inventive programming – but among the composers represented in Saturday’s concert were names such as Roger Quilter, Percy Grainger and Arthur Bliss, often regarded as second-rate.Read full review... | |
| 16-Sep-2012 Kings Place: Hall One | Kings Place Festival: London Sinfonietta soloists play the music of Steve Reich |
 Kings Place is my new favourite London arts venue. It is the venue of choice for several prominent ensembles, and it is easy to see why. Acoustically fantastic concert halls provide opportunities for all sorts of music in a formal concert setting, whilst the large open spaces allow for more relaxed performances, where the audience can buy drinks, sit down and listen (or not). It is all kinds of cool.
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| 13-Sep-2012 The London Coliseum | The last revival: The Magic Flute at London Coliseum |
 The house was full for the opening night at the London Coliseum, and there were plenty of whoops for conductor Nicholas Collon as he made his ENO debut. This year marks the 25th anniversary of ENO's celebrated production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, and this revival – the fourteenth – will be the last. For this run, veteran backstage talent has been combined with a relatively young cast, featuring a number of ENO Harewood Artists in the principal roles.
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| 24-Aug-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 55: ENO performs Britten's Peter Grimes on the concert stage |
 With most of the original cast of English National Opera's critically acclaimed production returning to the Royal Albert Hall to perform Britten's Peter Grimes for the BBC Proms, this was a performance of which much of the audience had high expectations. For the most part, these were met and, on occasion, exceeded.
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| 4-Aug-2012 Sheldonian Theatre | Oxford Philomusica with Menahem Pressler: Mendelssohn and Mozart |
 The Oxford International Piano Festival comprises a two-week long series of workshops and concerts, hosted by Oxford Philomusica and featuring pianists of international esteem, among them Andreas Haefliger and Sergei Babayan. It was Menahem Pressler, now in his 88th year, who gave the closing piano masterclasses and performed in the closing concert at the Sheldonian Theatre. The concert began and ended with orchestral works by Mendelssohn, with Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 27 in the middle.Read full review... | |
| 29-Jul-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 20: Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels! |
 It all started some time last year with a letter of invitation from a "Sir Albert Hall", inviting Wallace to display his often overlooked musical talents in a Prom. Naturally, he was honoured to accept the invitation, but rather than stepping out on stage, he set to work writing what was to be the highlight of the concert – My Concerto in Ee, Lad, written for piano.Read full review... | |
| 26-Jul-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 16: BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Joanna MacGregor and Ryan Wigglesworth |
 As the programme put it, Prom 16 had a "distinctly watery" theme. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales took its audience on a trip to the Italian and French rivieras, with a staycation in the form of Hugh Wood's thrilling Piano Concerto. It was a challenging programme, which showed in the orchestra's playing more than once, but it was nevertheless an enjoyable experience. It should be noted that the orchestra's originally billed conductor, Thierry Fischer, was unwell, and was replaced at very short notice by conductor Ryan Wigglesworth.
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| 17-Jul-2012 Wilton's Music Hall | Peter Sheppard Skærved's Soundbox 2: Flourish in the Harmony |
 The second of violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved's Soundbox series once again took place in the exposed-brick Green Room above the bar at Wilton's Music Hall. As with Soundbox 1, the programme comprised short bursts of music with readings of contemporary material, but this time we also had visual aids in the form of postcards, which were referred to througout.Read full review... | |
| 14-Jul-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 2: Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady |
 John Wilson and his orchestra are something of a modern-day Proms legend, having received rave reviews for last year’s “Hooray for Hollywood” and for the Rodgers & Hammerstein Prom in 2010. Nostalgia is fashionable, and Wilson knows it, but he is not content to rest on his laurels. Last night, he and his hand-picked musicians, together with a superb cast, made a welcome return to the Royal Albert Hall for a justifiably sold-out performance of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady.
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| 9-Jul-2012 Wilton's Music Hall | Peter Sheppard Skærved and guests: Soundbox at Wilton's Music Hall |
 Wilton's Music Hall in London describes itself as "the city's hidden stage", and rightly so. Nestled in a tiny alleyway in an otherwise dull part of the East End, it's very easy to miss, especially given its outward, derelict appearance. "Niche, arty, folksy, quirky", as I wrote in my notes, really doesn't cover it.
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| 4-Jul-2012 Wigmore Hall | Joyce DiDonato and David Zobel at the Wigmore Hall: Recital on a theme of Venice |
 Venexia, Venise, Venedig: city of singing gondoliers, loved-up couples and pigeons. That was the picture painted last night at the sold-out recital by Joyce DiDonato and her accompanist David Zobel at the Wigmore Hall.Read full review... | |
| 25-Jun-2012 Royal Opera House: Linbury Studio Theatre | Tutti all'Opera: Gluck's Il Trionfo di Clelia |
| Il Trionfo di Clelia is one of almost 50 operas composed by Gluck, many of which are unknown to the average opera-goer. What makes it interesting, in terms of the history of opera, is that it marks a return to opera seria only months after the first performance of his celebrated Orfeo ed Euridice, widely regarded as the cornerstone of 'reform opera', to which simplicity of plot and music were key.
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| 26-May-2012 St John's Smith Square | Early Opera Company: Handel's Rival Queens |
 It is no surprise that in this Olympic year, various cultural goings-on have taken on, or alluded to, a sporting theme. This year's Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music made no exception, taking as its theme the ethos of the Olympic Games – Contests, Competitions and the Harmony of Nations – and cunningly applying it to incidents in musical history, as well as to music itself. The Festival's opening ceremony took the form of a concert given by the noted viola da gamba player Jordi Savall and his handpicked orchestra, with a colourful programme of European Baroque music.Read full review... | |
| 18-May-2012 Queen's College Chapel | Modern première of Lulier's oratorio Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi in Oxford |
 Mention the name 'Lulier' to even the most informed of Baroque music enthusiasts, and the chances are that they will be stumped. Born in Rome in around 1660, little is known about the early years of Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier, but as an adult he played regularly in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome for a number of years, in 1679 becoming a member of the noted Congregazione di Santa Cecilia, a musical society which exists to the present day.Read full review... | |
