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
Recital round-up No 53 for International Piano Magazine – April 2019 Wigmore Hall: Kirill Gerstein, Feb 24; Garrick Ohlsson, Feb 27 Royal Festival Hall: Angela Hewitt, Feb 26 Barbican: Arcadi Volodo...Read More
Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, ETO at the Hackney Empire In a week when English National Opera presents a hyperactive Merry Widow, and the Royal Opera a deranged Cosi fan tutte, it’s sweet reli...Read More
The Merry Widow, ENO Nobody ever complains when Ko-Ko’s ‘little list’ in The Mikado is updated to suit the temper of the times, and nobody complains that April de Angelis’s book for ENO’s Me...Read More
Symphony Orchestra of India/Dalal/Hussain, Cadogan Hall A hundred years ago, British maps of the world showed large areas in red: the British Empire ‘on which the sun never set’, with India the la...Read More
Trifonov/LSO/Rattle, Barbican The Barbican is building a series of concerts round the young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, and his talent deserves the accolade. For his first outing he chose to pla...Read More