The Marriage of Figaro Coliseum, London ★★ Michael Church With ENO fighting for their lives, it’s vital that their output should be top quality, so last week I sampled them two nights in a row. ...Read More
Eugene Onegin Royal Opera House, London ★★ Michael Church Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is the opera everyone loves. Ted Huffman’s new production comes heralded with this American director’s w...Read More
Prom 31 Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Royal Albert Hall With violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and conductor Daniel Barenboim on stage, Prom 31 boasted two of t...Read More
Tristan und Isolde Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes A German critic once truly opined that, in Tristan und Isolde, ‘on the stage walk sounds, not people’. Wagner was desperate to realise through...Read More
The Fairy Queen Les arts florissants, conducted by Paul Agnew; Compagnie Käfig, directed by Mourad Merzouki Royal Albert Hall: Prom 24 Sometimes a minority art-form can unexpectedly appear centre-sta...Read More
Michael Church – International Piano live roundup May 2024 Queen Elizabeth Hall: Marc-André Hamelin Feb 23 Wigmore Hall: Andras Schiff March 3; Steven Osborne March 12; Pavel Kolesnikov and...Read More
Yuja Wang Royal Festival Hall, London Impoverished by Brexit, shunned by a Philistine government, and shockingly undermined by the Arts Council, classical music in Britain is going through unprecedent...Read More
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Garsington Opera, Wormsley The stage on which Netia Jones’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream unfolds boasts a giant circular screen, an astrolabe, two telescopes...Read More
Giulio Cesare Glyndebourne Festival Opera, West Sussex When director David McVicar unveiled his production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne in 2005, the effect was seismic. How dare he turn...Read More
Aci, Galatea e Polyfemo/Brockes Passion London Handel Festival ★★★☆☆ When Handel’s oratorio Aci, Galatea e Polyfemo was premiered to celebrate a ducal wedding in Naples, it was accompanied...Read More