‘Why haven’t we heard about phages before?’ asked Evan Davis brightly on the ‘PM’ programme on May 2. He was referring to the ‘new’ miracle cure which had jus...Read More
Piotr Anderszewski, Wigmore Hall In the strait-laced world of concert pianism, Piotr Anderszewski has long been the joker in the pack. He’s capable of delivering a witty bar-by-bar analysis of his ...Read More
LSO/Simon Rattle, Barbican As a deity whose acolytes believed he had pulled down the palace of traditional tonality, Arnold Schoenberg invited iconoclasm; the only surprise is that the response took ...Read More
A Man of Good Hope, Linbury Theatre, London A show with many progenitors will either flop or develop synergy, and it’s nice to report that A Man of Good Hope does the latter. Co-produced by the Roya...Read More
Faust, Royal Opera House, London Some operas have to be taken in the spirit of the times out of which they sprang, and this applies particularly to Gounod’s Faust. Nobody today could accept its ca...Read More
Orchestra and Choir of the Age of Enlightenment/Rattle, Royal Festival Hall Should Bach’s Passions be staged? They increasingly are, and there are good supporting arguments, particularly in the ca...Read More
Berenice, Linbury Theatre First a welcome to the hall. The old Linbury Theatre was a Spartan concrete cavity, well suited to the hair-shirted avant-garde performances which were often staged there. N...Read More
La forza del destino, Royal Opera House It’s always news when Anna Netrebko or Jonas Kaufmann grace the stage, and doubly so when they appear together: breath is bated not only over whether these s...Read More
There are two words – ‘weinte bitterlich’- in a recitative in Bach’s darkly dramatic Johannespassion when the Evangelist must negotiate his path alone through a frenzy of melodic and emotional...Read More
The Magic Flute, Coliseum Idomeneo, Hackney Empire Like Ko-Ko’s ‘little list’ in The Mikado, there’s a moment in The Magic Flute which seems designed for topical allusion. As the Freemasons ...Read More