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Lust and labyrinths: The Marriage of Figaro at English National Opera

By Dominic Lowe, 29 March 2018

Fiona Shaw's production doesn't always get everything right, but Lucy Crowe's debut as the Countess is the defining success of the this revival.

****1

London

Finely cast Orlando from La Nuova Musica

By Nahoko Gotoh, 01 February 2018

Handel’s opera Orlando is famous for the great mad scene at the end of Act 2. Specifically written for the celebrated castrato Senesino, it’s an emotionally powerful ten-minute monologue.

****1

Berlin

Blurred lines: Peter Sellars' half-baked semi-staging mars a fine performance of The Cunning Little Vixen

By Hugo Shirley, 12 October 2017

Rattle conducts Janáček's glorious score with unerring skill and barely concealed adoration, but is let down by his regular collaborator's muddy vision.

***11

Budapest

Don Giovanni stripped bare in Budapest

By Orsolya Gyárfás, 24 September 2017

Iván Fischer's minimalist staging of Don Giovanni makes a triumphant return to Mupa, Budapest.

****1

London

Spyres and Crowe take the vocal honours at Covent Garden's Mitridate

By David Karlin, 29 June 2017

A strange evening: superb Mozart playing from Rousset, plenty of fine singing, staging and costumes that one certainly isn’t going to forget. But what’s the point of it all?

Boston

Mozart in a minor key: Radu Lupu and the Requiem with the Boston Symphony

By Kevin Wells, 21 April 2017

At 71, Radu Lupu continues to amaze. No one gets so much out of a piano with such a light touch and minimum of effort.

****1

Prague

Gilgamesh: In Prague, a rousing revival of an ancient story

By Frank Kuznik, 25 January 2017

The Czech Philharmonic brings The Epic of Gilgamesh to life with audacity and flair.

****1

London

La Calisto: Sublime singing saves Cavalli’s work from farce

By Olivia Bell, 28 November 2016

Despite the beautiful sensitivity of La Nuova Musica, coupled with some truly sublime singing, the silliness of Cavalli’s opera is sometimes overplayed in this semi-staged production; less is, sometimes, more.

****1

London

Pace and volume: Gardiner's Mendelssohn only goes so far

By Sophia Lambton, 16 October 2016

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts an evening where much pomp and circumstance does little justice to the multifarious aesthetics of a great composer.

**111

London

Prom 54: A near miss for the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Mozart's Requiem

By Dominic Lowe, 26 August 2016

Although Ács Ákos gave an excellent performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Iván Fischer's innovative Requiem didn't quite work.

***11

London

Prom 3: The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge revitalises Fauré’s Requiem

By Kathryn Wareham, 17 July 2016

The legendary Kings College Choir, Cambridge, conducted by their very own Stephen Cleobury, was accompanied by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on period instruments at the Royal Albert Hall.

***11

Los Angeles

Waves of spiritual energy: Dudamel conducts Pärt and Mozart in LA

By Laurence Vittes, 19 May 2016

A bird's-eye view of Gustavo Dudamel's opening concert in the LA Phil's Mozart-Pärt cycle.

London

An incandescent Magic Flute from Mark Wigglesworth at ENO

By Dominic Lowe, 05 February 2016

A revival of Simon McBurney's 2013 production of The Magic Flute reaches new heights under Mark Wigglesworth's baton.

****1

London

Minimalist complexity: Flórez lights up Orphée et Eurydice at Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 14 September 2015

Juan Diego Flórez turns in a tour de force in the title role of a consistently attractive and inventive performance of Gluck's ballet-laden Orphée et Eurydice.

****1

Glyndebourne

Alchemy from Barrie Kosky in Handel's Saul at Glyndebourne

By David Karlin, 26 July 2015

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.

*****

London

Prom 4: Nelsons' era at the CBSO comes to a close with impassioned Beethoven Ninth

By Nahoko Gotoh, 19 July 2015

Traditionally at the Proms, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is reserved for the penultimate prom slot in September, but this year, they have made an exception and given it to the CBSO and Andris Nelsons.

****1

Glyndebourne

Sultry, fiery, coquettish: Stéphanie d’Oustrac’s Carmen at Glyndebourne has it all

By Mark Pullinger, 23 May 2015

“The very incarnation of vice” was how one critic described Célestine Galli-Marié’s Carmen at the opera’s 1875 Opéra Comique première. That description could equally be applied to Stéphanie d’Oustrac in Glyndebourne’s revival of David McVicar’s terrific production.

****1

London

Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead a fruitful pairing for Pergolesi's Stabat Mater

By Travis Mason, 20 March 2015

Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead give a thoughtful rendition of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at a Lenten concert by La Nuova Musica at St John's Smith Square.

****1

London

Not quite heroic: Handel's Hercules at the Barbican

By Charlotte Valori, 04 March 2015

The English Concert play beautifully, the chorus is in superb voice, but a disjointed cast of unconvincing singers mean Hercules never reaches heroic heights.

**111

London

Peter Sellars' reconstruction of Purcell's The Indian Queen at ENO

By David Karlin, 26 February 2015

In Peter Sellars' reconstruction of Purcell's unfinished semi-opera The Indian Queen, fine vocal performances are spoilt by indifferent staging and choreography and an embarrassing retelling of the Conquistador story.

*1111

London

Grigolo’s Nemorino intoxicates Covent Garden in L’elisir d’amore

By Mark Pullinger, 18 November 2014

Whilst still a charming production, a touch more warmth and bel canto style are yet required to bring some authentic Italian sunshine to L'elisir d'amore in Bow Street this November.

***11

London

"Better late than never": Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts Beethoven at a late night Prom

By David Fay, 26 August 2014

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir in a late night performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at the BBC Proms.

****1

London

A masterpiece of storytelling: Bach's St John Passion in Prom 12

By David Karlin, 26 July 2014

From the insistent, driving opening to the sublime transcendence of the closing chorale, Norrington, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and James Gilchrist give us a St John Passion to remember.

****1

London

Salonen conducts a compelling “Symphony of a Thousand”

By Rohan Shotton, 29 June 2014

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Philharmonia in a fine account of Mahler's mighty “Symphony of a Thousand”, culminating in a dramatic realisation of Faust's redemption.

****1

London

Sublime Strauss with the LSO's Der Rosenkavalier excerpts

By Mark Pullinger, 08 May 2014

Whooping horns, a single yellow rose and a velvety cushion of strings set the scene for a sumptuous tranche of highlights from Der Rosenkavalier in the London Symphony Orchestra’s latest concert commemorating Richard Strauss in his 150th anniversary year.

*****

Toronto

An Achingly Human Hercules

By Catherine Kustanczy, 05 April 2014

What happens when a hero comes home? The exploration of this question forms the basis of director Peter Sellars’ new production of Hercules at the Canadian Opera Company.

*****

Dublin

Inspirational performance of Handel by The Sixteen in Dublin

By Andrew Larkin, 13 October 2013

At one point in the classic 1950 film All About Eve, the inimitable theatre critic Addison DeWitt speaks reverently of his art as critic: “I have lived in the theatre as a Trappist monk lives in his faith. I have no other world; no other life – and once in a great while, I experience that moment of revelation for which all true believers wait and pray.

*****

London

David McVicar and John Eliot Gardiner give us an enjoyable Figaro at Covent Garden

By Roger Smith, 16 September 2013

If Count Almaviva (to say nothing of Don Giovanni) were alive today, he might perhaps enlist Richard Dawkins to defend his behaviour. We know from evolutionary biology that the male stands the best chance of passing on his genes if he has many partners, the female if she can keep the male around to help raise the children he’s had with her.

****1

Birmingham

Beethoven sounding new: The CBSO Beethoven cycle concludes

By Rohan Shotton, 27 June 2013

Andris Nelsons and the CBSO brought their superb Beethoven cycle to a close with fine performances of the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.The Eighth Symphony suffers from sitting in the shade of the Seventh and Ninth, but Beethoven’s “Little” F major symphony has a great deal to offer.

****1

Birmingham

A smart programme of Sibelius and Lutosławski in Birmingham with the CBSO and Lucy Crowe

By Peter Marks, 20 June 2013

This concert was a triumph of smart programming, combining the third symphonies of Sibelius and Lutosławski, as well as works for soprano and orchestra by these composers – both modernists in their own ways.

****1

London

Outstanding Rossini singing from Lucy Crowe in ENO's Barber of Seville

By David Karlin, 25 February 2013

In the celebratedly short time in which Rossini wrote The Barber of Seville, he got into a time capsule and took a short trip to twenty-first century London; on his return to 1816 Rome, he wrote the part of Rosina for Lucy Crowe's voice. Or at least, that's what it felt like at ENO last night, as Crowe turned in a performance which outstrips my ability to find superlatives.

***11

New York City

John Eliot Gardiner's Beethoven 9 still shocks at Carnegie Hall

By David Allen, 16 November 2012

As I walked to this concert by the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir, I wondered what might have changed in Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Beethoven in the two decades since he first recorded these symphonies.

****1

Glyndebourne

The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne

By David Karlin, 27 May 2012

If I were to describe Janáček's late opera The Cunning Little Vixen as a bit of a one-off, I could be accused of severe understatement. It's the only opera in the mainstream repertoire to be based on a cartoon strip, it mixes animals and humans at will and it incorporates dance and mime routines, all against the backdrop of the setting of ancient forest so beloved by middle European romantics.

***11

Vienna

The Fairy Queen at the Theater an der Wien

By Zwölftöner, 01 March 2012

The ‘semi-opera’ was an English musical and spoken theatre hybrid which by the end of the 17th century had begun to scrape the bottom of Restoration drama’s literary barrel, and by the 18th had been rendered obsolete by efforts to introduce the English to formal opera from the continent.

****1

London

London Handel Festival highlight

By Travis Mason, 12 April 2011

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.

Evanston

Seraphic Melody to Make

By Kristina Powers, 18 March 2011

When I was young, I often wondered what it would be like if an angel came down to earth. I mused that, if such an angel came, she would be a pretty, middle-aged lady with a slender figure, blonde hair, and, most importantly, a gorgeous, ethereal voice. Yesterday at the Music Institute of Chicago, I almost believed that such an angel had indeed come down from heaven when internationally-acclaimed soprano Lucy Crowe – the shining star of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Handel’s Hercules – joined Baroque Band for an enchanting, memorable evening of historically-informed Baroque performance. Guest directed by English Consort Director Harry Bicket, who masterfully led the Lyric orchestra in Hercules, this concert proved the ultimate encore for both Bicket and Crowe following their operatic triumph at the Lyric.

*****

Chicago

A Hero's Tale

By Kristina Powers, 13 March 2011

Ancient Greek superheroes – irresistible. Half god, half man, incredible deeds leave Perseus, Theseus, and of course Hercules enough to rival Superman, Spiderman, and The Incredible Hulk. Small wonder then why these demigods and precursor of the modern comic book superhero have captivated the hearts and minds of many of the world’s greatest writers, dramatists and composers.

****1

Berlin

Heiterkeit und Melancholie: Ein Mozart-Abend im Berliner Konzerthaus

By Henriette Schwarz, 24 November 2017

Welches Werk spielt man vor Mozarts Requiem? Ivan Fischer und das Konzerthausorchester haben mit Mozarts Symphonie in Es-Dur an diesem Abend eine hervorragende Lösung gefunden.

****1

Rome

Sir Antonio Pappano dirige une grandiose Passion selon saint Jean à l’Auditorium Parco della Musica

By Emma Granier, 13 April 2017

L'orchestre et le chœur de santa Cecilia ont marqué la fin de la Semaine Sainte d'un grand moment de musique et de spiritualité avec ce bel hommage au Cantor de Leipzig.

****1

Madrid

Rodelinda o el Barroco que enamora

By Juan José Freijo, 26 March 2017

Un equipo artístico totalmente inspirado ha engendrado una de las mejores producciones de la temporada en el Teatro Real

****1

Bonn

Ideal²: Lobgesang beendet das Beethovenfest und Gardiners symphonischen Mendelssohn-Zyklus

By Jens Klier, 09 October 2016

Selbst in den technisch-räumlichen Gegebenheiten der Beethovenhalle erlebten die Zuhörer ein Festival- und Zyklusfinale wie man es sich nur wünschen kann.

*****

Leipzig

Eröffnung der Mendelssohn-Festtage 2016:
Leipziger Lobgesang

By Jens Klier, 15 September 2016

Eine spannend-fließende Interpretation mit dem Gewandhausorchester und dem Monteverdi Choir unter Andrew Manze.

****1

Showing 45 items