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In two equally impressive performances, students from the RNCM star in these two one-act operas.

Showcasing the talents of two highly proficient chamber musicians, this was a terrific insight into a lost world spanning the Baroque and early Classical periods.

Challenging musical norms and blurring the lines between genres, Manchester Camerata shows off its "restless ambition" at the RNCM.

An exceptional performance of Orlando Gough's The World Encompassed by six-strong viol ensemble, Fretwork. 

Angela Hewitt: formidable de Falla and sensual Albéniz made up for overwrought Scarlatti at the Royal Northern College of Music.   

The Manchester Camerata directed by Giovanni Guzzo gave moving, entertaining and expressive pieces by Pärt, Mozart, Piazzolla and Britten with Guzzo and pianist Gabriela Montero as soloists.

Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream lacking a little magic at the RNCM.

The RNCM's beautiful production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow is the perfect musical accompaniment to the festive season. 

Remarkable commitment from the RNCM Vocal Department in an entrancing Gluck double bill, of the forgotten L’ivrogne corrigé and the famous Orfeo ed Euridice.

Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore is perhaps one of the most delightful operas ever written; full of romance and comedy underpinned by a witty and charming score makes it the perfect light-hearted entertainment. The RNCM presented an excellently compelling production.

Manchester Camerata’s series of Mozart concertos, an ongoing theme in their 40th anniversary season, came to a close with pianist Ferenc Rados joining fellow Hungarian Gábor Takács-Nagy for a superb account of the Piano Concerto no. 15 at the Royal Northern College of Music.The broader theme of the evening, though, was movement, and two modern works began proceedings to fascinating effect.

Shostakovich’s 1959 operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki (“Paradise Moscow”) is to date one of the most uncomfortable evenings I have ever spent in a theatre, though, I hasten to add, not because of the performance.

Since its inception in 1972 the Royal Northern College of Music has gained a reputation for excellence in the field of opera, having often staged extraordinary productions of repertoire familiar and forgotten.

Manchester’s musical history is extensive and impressive. Ranging from the founding of the UK’s oldest professional symphony orchestra (the Hallé – founded in tandem with the UK’s oldest and largest specialist music shop, Forsyth Bros. Ltd.

Lust, betrayal, beheadings. The words appeared prominently in the publicity for Opera Seria’s debut production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, bringing Horrible Histories fleetingly to mind, but they do sum up the plot of one of the composer’s greatest works rather well.