Barrie Kosky's punchy, visually exhilarating take on Saul, with Iestyn Davies as a sublime David, makes for a powerful evening of drama at Glyndebourne.
Netia Jones' new production taps into Britten's silvery underworld in a staging dominated by video wizardry which is hypnotically beautiful, but comes at a price.
The Royal Opera's first revival of George Benjamin's medieval shocker is characterised by stellar singing performances, notably from Barbara Hannigan and Iestyn Davies.
“If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it.” There was certainly plenty of Shakespeare-inspired music on the bill for the London Philharmonic Orchestra's celebration of The Bard.
Bach’s Magnificat featured superlative solos from both singers and musicians, but the RCO and Iván Fischer reached a higher plane in a beautifully crafted and optimistic Brahms’ First Symphony.
A programme of personal choices curated by George Benjamin in collaboration with Oliver Knussen – that didn’t quite hang together but with two UK premières it was a fascinating evening.
The English Concert give us a truly exceptional concert performance of Orlando, starring Iestyn Davies in the title role, with a strong cast and glorious singing: but it's begging for a proper staging.
A full-sized LPO première a bewildering new mass setting by Alexander Raskatov that misses the mark and sits uneasily alongside Beethoven's great ode to nature.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus were on top form, joined by a team of Baroque soloists under Handel expert Harry Bicket to produce a memorable Theodora.
Five star reviews are flowing Arcangelo’s way. It’s easy to see why. Five years after it was founded by Jonathan Cohen, the quality of this zestful ensemble just keeps soaring.
The new season at Wigmore Hall launched with a sensitively programmed selection of Handel arias, intelligently played by some of the country's finest Handelians.
With the help of a star-studded cast, Barrie Kosky's imaginative staging delivers a production of Handel's Saul which has just about everything going for it: choreography, voices, acting. A must-see.
There comes a stage in every countertenor’s career when he feels himself ready to tackle the exposed repertoire of John Dowland, and hence the need to find himself a talented lutenist.
Joélle Harvey, Iestyn Davies, Nicholas Phan and Hanno Müller-Brachmann shine in Franz Welser-Möst's sometimes meditative interpretation of Bach's Mass in B minor.
Chalk and talk is dead. Teachers scramble to bring history to life in classrooms up and down the country through dressing-up days and interactive whiteboard activities. Few, however, can equal Robert Carsen’s efforts in his riotous production of Handel’s Rinaldo, here on its first Glyndebourne revival since its 2011 première.
The intimate Vancouver Playhouse was nearly full to hear Iestyn Davies and Thomas Dunford. Consisting of lute songs by John Dowland and his contemporaries, in addition to the Canadian premiere of Nico Muhly’s Old Bones, it’s hard to imagine a more artistically satisfying and entertaining way to spend an afternoon.
This is the one Britten work scheduled by the Metropolitan Opera this year, in Tim Albery’s production from 1996, revived most recently in 2002. The psychological designs are infused with such colour that the staging in no way shows its age.
The Last Night of the Proms provided a welcome tying-up of the various strands that have permeated this year’s season: British light music, the 60th anniversary of the Coronation, a host of premières and new BBC commissions, and the significant anniversaries of a number of composers (including the big-hitters of the season, Wagner and Britten).
Saturday night’s performance of Handel’s oratorio Theodora at La Maison Symphonique in Montréal was magnificent, probably the best concert I’ve seen this season. Les Violons du Roy, La Chapelle de Québec, as well as a handful of soloists from Québec and England, all under the masterful direction of Bernard Labadie, brought this somewhat obscure work vividly to life.
Bach’s Passion according to St John the Evangelist is not an easy work. Whilst saying I am a “fan” of Bach is one of the greatest understatements possible, this Passion is nonetheless an intense work for any concert-goer (seasoned or amateur) including myself. Over two hours in length, it is a test on both the audience and, quite obviously, the performers.
Handel’s Belshazzar was the oratorio of choice for renowned music group Les Arts Florissants at the Barbican last week. The group was famously set up in France in 1979 by the American-born William Christie, eventually becoming an international household name for its critically acclaimed performances and recordings of Baroque operas on period instruments.
Celebrating Britten’s centenary, tonight’s performance of his five canticles seemed particularly fitting. Written throughout his composing career, they are a testament to the composer’s affinity for poetry and skill at writing with particular performers in mind, and they provide an intimate commentary on Britten’s large-scale works.
It’s pretty luxurious to be able to stumble out of your front door at ten to six, wander five minutes round the corner to your friendly local cinema, be greeted with a glass of sparkling wine, and then watch a high-definition live screening of a top contemporary opera production at the Met.
J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor was described by its first publisher as “the greatest musical work of art of all times and nations”. It’s also the culmination of one man’s great life of musical creativity, and a great personal statement of faith.
They are sadly few in number, but some things in this St. John Passion I can report in mildly positive terms would include Stephen Layton’s hand-selected choir Polyphony, whose members dealt with Bach’s demanding vocal lines capably and sang in clear, idiomatic German; bass-baritone Neal Davies (a perfectly respectable if not overly engaging Christ); and Derek Welton’s robustly s
Handel, two cracking counter-tenors and Renée Fleming were all the excuses needed for a long-overdue trip to New York to hear Stephen Wadsworth's production of Rodelinda - the very piece which revived interest in Handel's opera following its performance in Göttingen in the 1920s.
Several audience members didn't bother to return after the interval, and there were a few walkouts even before that. It seems Christopher Alden's darkly brilliant new production isn't for everybody. But those of us who stuck it out for the full three hours were rewarded with a reminder that beneath the surface of the Shakespeare-based fairy fable lurk some disquieting truths.
"Intermezzo" has submitted an excellent and comprehensive review of the opening night of this classy new production, but I was so shocked to hear booing from neighbouring seats that perhaps I might be permitted to add this view from a relative opera novice? I've not seen this opera before, or even the Shakespeare play, so although I had nothing to compare it with, I also had nothing to miss in th
A true highlight of this year's London Handel Festival was a performance of the dramatic oratorio Saul, featuring a large cast of young soloists, including several previous finalists of the Festival's annual singing competition, all now getting well established in their solo careers.
In sporting parlance, the "dream-team" of countertenor Iestyn Davies and Richard Egarr at the harpsichord came together last night for a Wigmore Hall concert held to mark the 10 years directorship of John Gilhooly, and was the perfect representation of his decade at the helm: singer + harpsichord, immaculate programming, consummate musicianship, scholarship, unheard-of treasures, blended with a da
On a dark and snowy night, a packed Wigmore Hall was captivated by the Early Opera Company's offering of Handel's Messiah - compared to some, an intimate performance with a dozen instrumentalists and a choir of 8, but which suited the surroundings to perfection.
In 2008, conductor Thomas Hengelbrock rediscovered Niobe, Regina di Tebe, written in 1687 by the Venetian-born, German-based composer Agostino Steffani. Although now little remembered, Steffani was a world-famous composer in his day and a man of many talents who became a diplomat and bishop as well as being a musician.
