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Mark Valencia

Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

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The glory and the grind: The Royal Opera stages its first Makropulos Case

By Mark Valencia, 04 November 2025

Katie Mitchell wheels out her tired old tropes in The Makropulos Case, redeemed by its musical performances.

***11

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The Royal Opera stages its first Makropulos Case

By Mark Valencia

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The comedy falls flat in English National Opera's season opening Cinderella

By Mark Valencia, 27 September 2025

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

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Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

By Mark Valencia

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Galloping demons: Antonio Pappano and the LSO in Shostakovich 10

By Mark Valencia, 21 September 2025

Sir Antonio Pappano the charioteer whips his forces to attack the fleeing Shostakovich in the Tenth Symphony at the Barbican.

*****

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Galloping demons: Pappano and the LSO in Shostakovich 10

By Mark Valencia

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ENO, BBC join forces in a musically and emotionally stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

By Mark Valencia, 01 September 2025

David Pountney's vernacular translation and Ruth Knight's vivid staging lent a thrilling immediacy to Shostakovich's chilling opera.

*****

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ENO, BBC join forces in stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

By Mark Valencia

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An overgrown path to cliché-ville: Glyndebourne revives Michieletto’s Kátya Kabanová

By Mark Valencia, 03 August 2025

Damiano Michieletto’s production of Janáček’s opera breaks a key tenet of high-concept opera: where it should reveal, it obfuscates.

***11

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Glyndebourne revives Michieletto’s Kátya Kabanová

By Mark Valencia

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Electric! Sean Shibe premieres a new guitar concerto at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 22 July 2025

After the premiere of Mark Simpson's concerto, Anja Bihlmaier concludes her BBC Philharmonic Prom with a rousing performance of the Symphonie fantastique.

****1

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Sean Shibe premieres a new guitar concerto at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia

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Born to sing Lucia: Jennifer France shines in Opera Holland Park’s new staging

By Mark Valencia, 18 July 2025

Cecilia Stinton’s new production of Lucia di Lammermoor doesn't necessarily make best use of OHP’s performance space, but the singers excel.

***11

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Born to sing Lucia: Jennifer France shines at Opera Holland Park

By Mark Valencia

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Short Ride in a Fast Machine: Dudamel’s LSO debut proves a mixed bag

By Mark Valencia, 14 May 2025

Making his London Symphony Orchestra debut at the Barbican, Gustavo Dudamel’s Ravel fares better than his disappointing Strauss.

**111

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Short Ride in a Fast Machine: Dudamel’s LSO debut proves a mixed bag

By Mark Valencia

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Royal Academy Opera stages a magical Zauberflöte

By Mark Valencia, 18 March 2025

A lyrical yet zesty account of Mozart's' adorable score, in a production that is on the nose and off the wall.

****1

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Royal Academy Opera stages a magical Zauberflöte

By Mark Valencia

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Renée Fleming sings Strauss favorites with Guggeis and the LPO

By Mark Valencia, 05 March 2025

Debutant conductor Thomas Guggeis filled out the programme with a creation of his own – a fusion of Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Meistersinger.

****1

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Renée Fleming sings Strauss favorites with Guggeis and the LPO

By Mark Valencia

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Well cast, high-quality singers in The Royal Opera’s Trovatore revival

By Mark Valencia, 26 February 2025

Giacomo Sagripanti’s live wire dynamics and keenly judged tempo choices keep this revival of Verdi's Il trovatore buoyant at Covent Garden.

***11

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Well cast, high-quality singers in Royal Opera Trovatore revival

By Mark Valencia

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From Wales to Scotland, The Makropulos Affair defies the march of time

By Mark Valencia, 15 February 2025

Orla Boylan’s creation oozes charisma and reeks of entitlement, driven to emotional cruelty by the lassitude of a life too-long lived.

****1

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The Makropulos Affair defies the march of time

By Mark Valencia

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Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber beguile in Schumann at Wigmore Hall

By Mark Valencia, 16 December 2024

In the first of four Schumann recitals, the regular duo partners treat a packed Wigmore Hall to a glorious evening of Lieder.

*****

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Gerhaher and Huber beguile in Schumann at Wigmore Hall

By Mark Valencia

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Sakari Oramo and spellbinding soloists in a memorable Dream of Gerontius

By Mark Valencia, 13 December 2024

A solo trio of David Butt Philip, Dame Sarah Connolly and Roderick Williams draw on extensive stage experience to inhabit their roles in a naturally assured, vividly communicative fashion.

****1

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A memorable Dream of Gerontius from the BBCSO and Sakari Oramo

By Mark Valencia

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A dystopian Hansel und Gretel at the RAM

By Mark Valencia, 20 November 2024

Jack Furness serves up an unappetising mess of Humperdinck's delicious masterpiece for Royal Academy Opera.

***11

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A dystopian Hansel und Gretel at the RAM

By Mark Valencia

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Jonathan Miller’s Rigoletto, Godfather of opera productions, returns to ENO

By Mark Valencia, 30 October 2024

Jonathan Miller’s game-changing mafioso setting of Rigoletto returns to the Coliseum, vividly conducted by Richard Farnes.

***11

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Jonathan Miller’s Rigoletto, Godfather of opera productions, returns

By Mark Valencia

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The young Fauré given context by Cyrille Dubois and Tristan Raës

By Mark Valencia, 28 October 2024

Cyrille Dubois and Tristan Raës embark on an ambitious survey of Gabriel Fauré's songs at Wigmore Hall.

****1

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The young Fauré given context by Cyrille Dubois and Tristan Raës

By Mark Valencia

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Theatrically poverty-stricken: Blond Eckbert from English Touring Opera

By Mark Valencia, 18 October 2024

Judith Weir's cryptic folk opera lacks the narrative propulsion necessary to enthral an audience, and without resolution there is no catharsis.

**111

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Theatrically poverty-stricken: ETO's Blond Eckbert

By Mark Valencia

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Sensitive stagecraft, directorial rage: Suor Angelica... for one night only at ENO

By Mark Valencia, 27 September 2024

Miskimmon's relocation of the action to Ireland is unsparing in its evocation not of some tearjerking melodrama but of an almost documentary reportage on real events.

*****

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Sensitive stagecraft and directorial rage: Suor Angelica at ENO

By Mark Valencia

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Wigmore Hall's Fauré Song Gala: a showcase for the composer's mélodies

By Mark Valencia, 13 September 2024

Fauré was the finest of French songwriters. Stéphane Degout and Véronique Gens shine in a full-length evening in a packed Wigmore Hall.

****1

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Fauré Song Gala a showcase for the composer's mélodies

By Mark Valencia

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French music gilded by Golda Schultz and Stéphane Denève at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 04 September 2024

Stéphane Denève conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in music by Fauré, Boulanger and Ravel.

****1

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French music gilded by Golda Schultz at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia

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Petrenko, Ólafsson and the Berliner Philharmoniker dazzle in Schumann and Smetana

By Mark Valencia, 31 August 2024

A pair of thrilling performances at the BBC Proms, neither of which bear any trace of the routine, that will live long in the memory

*****

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Berliner Philharmoniker dazzles in Schumann and Smetana

By Mark Valencia

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Searing War Requiem from Pappano and the LSO at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 17 August 2024

The London Symphony Orchestra has a mighty history with Britten’s magnum opus and has this score in their collective DNA.

****1

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Searing War Requiem from Pappano and the LSO at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia

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A triad of trios: Capuçon, Hagen and Levit play Brahms at Wigmore Hall

By Mark Valencia, 04 May 2024

Renaud Capuçon brings his customary taste, refinement and intellect to music he has played many times over the years with a variety of partners – here Julia Hagen and Igor Levit.

****1

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A triad of trios: Capuçon, Hagen and Levit play Brahms at Wigmore Hall

By Mark Valencia

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Vladimir Jurowski completes his slow-burn LPO Ring cycle with Götterdämmerung

By Mark Valencia, 27 April 2024

Vladimir Jurowski's six-year Ring with the LPO closes as the cycle began: a gleaming, golden ring with a black hole at its core.

****1

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Jurowski completes his slow-burn LPO Ring cycle with Götterdämmerung

By Mark Valencia

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Nadine Sierra leads a musically formidable Lucia di Lammermoor revival at the ROH

By Mark Valencia, 19 April 2024

Katie Mitchell's provocative staging is revived to great effect, elevated by glorious music-making led by Nadine Sierra's sensational Lucia.

****1

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Nadine Sierra leads a musically formidable Lucia di Lammermoor

By Mark Valencia

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Musical performances keep Welsh National Opera's new Così fan tutte afloat

By Mark Valencia, 06 March 2024

Max Hoehn takes Così‘s subtitle, La scuola degli amanti (The School for Lovers), and connects it to Monty Python’s sex education sketch in The Meaning of Life. What larks, eh?

***11

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Musical performances keep WNO's new Così afloat

By Mark Valencia

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Welsh National Opera stages Death in Venice for the first time... and it’s a triumph

By Mark Valencia, 07 March 2024

Olivia Fuchs solves the problems of Britten's thorny opera in a brilliant new production that hits the heights, featuring Mark Le Brocq as earthbound scholar, Gustav von Aschenbach.

*****

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WNO stages Death in Venice for the first time and it’s a triumph

By Mark Valencia

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English Touring Opera opens spring tour with an off-the-wall Manon Lescaut

By Mark Valencia, 24 February 2024

Jude Christian's indulgent reinvention of Puccini's opera does not serve English Touring Opera well as it embarks on its spring tour.

**111

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ETO opens spring tour with an off-the-wall Manon Lescaut

By Mark Valencia

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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO thrill in Rachmaninov, Louise Alder triumphs in Strauss

By Mark Valencia, 08 February 2024

The flourishing partnership between Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra continues to be vital in both senses of the word.

*****

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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO thrill, Louise Alder triumphs

By Mark Valencia

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Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel strikes a sour note at the Royal Opera House

By Mark Valencia, 16 December 2023

A forgettable Hansel and Gretel is the worst offence of Antony McDonald’s leaden staging which returns to Covent Garden.

**111

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Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel strikes a sour note

By Mark Valencia

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Gerald Finley and Julius Drake bring their Night and Day tour to London

By Mark Valencia, 24 November 2023

Heinrich Heine settings by Schumann and Schubert are counter-balanced by Duparc and Cole Porter in a Temple Song recital reflecting on night and day.

*****

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Gerald Finley and Julius Drake bring Night and Day to London

By Mark Valencia

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English Touring Opera put Rossini’s La Cenerentola in a museum

By Mark Valencia, 28 October 2023

Rossini's take on the Cinderella story is bright, buoyant, witty, well sung, if ending on a sour directorial note.

***11

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English Touring Opera put Rossini's Cenerentola in a museum

By Mark Valencia

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Vivid Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea from English Touring Opera

By Mark Valencia, 27 October 2023

Harmonious images and geometric designs frame an effective staging and well sung performance of Monteverdi's last opera.

****1

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Vivid Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea from ETO

By Mark Valencia

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Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar revived by Welsh National Opera for its 2023 tour

By Mark Valencia, 09 September 2023

Deborah Colker's production, seen last season at Scottish Opera, moves to the Wales Millennium Centre for an autumn tour.

****1

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Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar revived by WNO for its 2023 tour

By Mark Valencia

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A triumph against the odds: Les Troyens at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 03 September 2023

Dinis Sousa doesn't put a foot wrong as the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir give a performance of startling virtuosity at the end of a European tour.

*****

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A triumph against the odds: Les Troyens at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia

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Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Lurching gear changes mar Bychkov's Dvořák at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia, 31 August 2023

An all-Dvořák programme given by the Paris Opera Orchestra fails to full satisfy, despite a couple of exciting concert openers.

***11

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Lurching gear changes mar Bychkov's Dvořák at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia

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A Basque banquet at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia, 30 August 2023

Vilde Frang and Bertrand Chamayou join the Belcea Quartet for a musical feast including Chausson's sumptuous Concert.

*****

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A Basque banquet at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia

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Starry Night: an evening of French violin sonatas at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia, 29 August 2023

Sonatas by Ravel frame Renaud Capuçon and Jean-François Heisser's recital in the Basque seaside town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

***11

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Starry Night: French violin sonatas at the Festival Ravel

By Mark Valencia

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Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Gavin Bryars’ 80th birthday bash in Snape

By Mark Valencia, 13 August 2023

The venerable composer celebrates his 80 years with an intense and moving performance by six loyal musicians drawn from his family and friends, with himself on double bass.

****1

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Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Gavin Bryars at 80

By Mark Valencia

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Prom 35: Oramo, Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Mahler and Berg

By Mark Valencia, 10 August 2023

The BBCSO's Chief Conductor steps in to lead a resplendent Mahler 7; Leila Josefowicz is the soloist for a transcendent Berg Violin Concerto.

*****

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Prom 35: Oramo, Josefowicz and the BBCSO in Mahler and Berg

By Mark Valencia

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Prom 30: John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London play Boulanger, Rachmaninov and Walton

By Mark Valencia, 06 August 2023

Alim Beisembayev replaces Benjamin Grosvenor in Rach Two, Wilson and the Sinfonia of London give an unforgettable account of Walton's Symphony no. 1.

****1

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Prom 30: John Wilson plays Boulanger, Rachmaninov and Walton

By Mark Valencia

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Total Immersion: the Barbican honours Kaija Saariaho with an intensive day

By Mark Valencia, 07 May 2023

The Barbican and BBC welcome the Finn to the exclusive pantheon of the order of “Total Immersion” – a full day devoted to the music of a single living composer.

****1

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The Barbican honours Kaija Saariaho with an intensive day

By Mark Valencia

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Blue, Jeanine Tesori's new opera on urban violence, comes to ENO

By Mark Valencia, 20 April 2023

Blue could hardly have been better rendered than here. Indeed, I wish every opera I see could be staged with such grace and finesse.

***11

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Blue, Jeanine Tesori's new opera on urban violence, comes to ENO

By Mark Valencia

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Urgent and intense: Innocence opens at the Royal Opera House

By Mark Valencia, 17 April 2023

Kaija Saariaho's opera – staged by Simon Stone and the hit of the 2021 Aix-en-Provence Festival – makes its UK debut.

****1

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Urgent and intense: Innocence opens at the Royal Opera House

By Mark Valencia

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Korngold's extravagant opera The Dead City staged in style by ENO

By Mark Valencia, 25 March 2023

Annilese Miskimmon directs a the first ever production by ENO of Erich Korngold's tale of bereavement, grief and the poisonous impact of lost love on an obsessive mind.

****1

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Korngold's extravagant opera The Dead City staged in style by ENO

By Mark Valencia

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English National Opera revives Akhnaten to spectacular effect

By Mark Valencia, 11 March 2023

Philip Glass' operatic take on Ancient Egyptian history returns to the Coliseum in Phelim McDermott's hypnotic production, complete with jugglers...

*****

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English National Opera revives Akhnaten to spectacular effect

By Mark Valencia

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In the Realms of Sorrow: London Handel Festival presents cantatas in the round

By Mark Valencia, 02 March 2023

Director Adele Thomas can do no wrong, sustaining her extraordinary run of fizz with this unlikely concatenation of four Handel cantatas at Stone Nest.

****1

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In the Realms of Sorrow: Handel cantatas in the round

By Mark Valencia

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Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking given a triumphant staging by Guildhall School

By Mark Valencia, 27 February 2023

Under Dominic Wheeler’s expert baton the musicians, all youthful if not downright young, give a spectacular account of a harrowing score.

****1

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Dead Man Walking given a triumphant staging by Guildhall School

By Mark Valencia

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Uneven Mozart and Haydn from The Sixteen at Cadogan Hall

By Mark Valencia, 16 February 2023

The Sixteen’s work is spoilt by a shortage of violins and some uneven solo contributions. Such imperfections only serve to highlight the excellence of the very best.

***11

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Uneven Mozart and Haydn from The Sixteen at Cadogan Hall

By Mark Valencia