Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Roderick Williams

As part of the Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival, Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony is given a stunning visual direction by Kirill Serebrennikov to match the RPO's gripping playing.

*****

Loading image...

*****

London

27 Apr 2025

Perception-altering Shostakovich from Serebrennikov and Petrenko

By Mark Pullinger

Loading image...

Edinburgh

Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform moving Fauré

By David Smythe, 27 February 2025

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform Fauré moving Requiem and Vaughan Williams Mystical Songs with the SCO Chorus and Roderick Williams.

****1

Loading image...

****1

Edinburgh

28 Feb 2025

Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform moving Fauré

By David Smythe

Loading image...

Philadelphia

Bumpy love songs from Roderick Williams and Julius Drake at PCMS

By Cameron Kelsall, 12 February 2025

A fully produced performance of Brahms' Die schӧne Magelone in Philadelphia, complete with on-stage narrator and bespoke drawings, proved less than the sum of its parts.

**111

Loading image...

**111

Philadelphia

13 Feb 2025

Bumpy love songs from Roderick Williams and Julius Drake at PCMS

By Cameron Kelsall

Loading image...

London

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

Loading image...

****1

London

16 Dec 2024

A memorable Dream of Gerontius from the BBCSO and Sakari Oramo

By Mark Valencia

Loading image...

Edinburgh

An outstanding Elijah from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Maxim Emelyanychev

By David Smythe, 09 May 2024

An outstanding Elijah from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with Maxim Emelyanychev, headed up by Roderick Williams, with Carolyn Sampson, Rowan Pierce, Anna Stéphany and Thomas Walker.

*****

Loading image...

*****

Edinburgh

10 May 2024

An outstanding Elijah from SCO and Maxim Emelyanychev

By David Smythe

Loading image...

London

Let there be light: UK premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Fiat Lux at the Barbican

By David Truslove, 15 March 2024

A thoughtfully conceived and well-executed BBCSO programme, if not gaining more than the sum of its respective parts.

***11

Loading image...

***11

London

18 Mar 2024

Let there be light: UK premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Fiat Lux

By David Truslove

Loading image...

Cardiff

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.

*****

Loading image...

*****

Cardiff

09 Mar 2024

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

By Mark Valencia

Loading image...

Edinburgh

More than cribs and tinsel: MacMillan’s dramatic Christmas Oratorio receives Scottish premiere

By David Smythe, 24 November 2023

The composer conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus with Roderick Williams and Rhian Lois in Edinburgh's Usher Hall.

****1

Loading image...

****1

Edinburgh

26 Nov 2023

More than cribs and tinsel: MacMillan’s dramatic Christmas Oratorio

By David Smythe

Loading image...

Liverpool

A superb Child of Our Time in Liverpool

By Peter Connors, 24 June 2023

Soloists, choir and orchestra combine under Martyn Brabbins to create a powerful performance of Tippett's secular oratorio.

****1

Loading image...

****1

Liverpool

25 Jun 2023

A superb Child of Our Time in Liverpool

By Peter Connors

Loading image...

Snape

Sally Beamish song cycle lights up Sinfonia of London's Aldeburgh Festival debut

By Roy Westbrook, 17 June 2023

A programme of orchestral showpieces are given the John Wilson treatment, although Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances disappoints.

***11

Loading image...

***11

Snape

18 Jun 2023

Sally Beamish lights up Sinfonia of London's Aldeburgh Festival debut

By Roy Westbrook

Loading image...

London

A double act: Roderick Williams delivers Mahler two ways at Wigmore Hall

By Alexander Hall, 19 November 2022

Robert and Clara were not the only two-composer family. So were Alma and Gustav. The Nash Ensemble's latest programme highlights Beethoven and the Romantics.

***11

Loading image...

***11

London

20 Nov 2022

A double act: Roderick Williams delivers Mahler two ways

By Alexander Hall

Loading image...

London

A magnificent Sea Symphony from the Bach Choir and David Hill

By David Truslove, 17 November 2022

A memorable evening of superb music-making at the Royal Festival Hall, illuminating two well-known Vaughan Williams scores and shining a light on a seldom performed rarity.

*****

Loading image...

*****

London

21 Nov 2022

A magnificent Sea Symphony from the Bach Choir

By David Truslove

Loading image...

London

Transcendent programme from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Wigglesworth

By Roy Westbrook, 10 August 2022

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth were heaven-storming in Prom 33, offering celestial visions from Strauss and Holst.

****1

Loading image...

****1

London

11 Aug 2022

Transcendent programme from the BBCSO and Ryan Wigglesworth

By Roy Westbrook

Loading image...

London

Roderick Williams captures the passion of youth with energetic immediacy at Kings Place

By Nick Boston, 05 May 2022

The baritone explores the extremes of youthful emotion in a varied programme of song with pianist Paul Cibis in the Voices Unwrapped season.

****1

Loading image...

****1

London

06 May 2022

Roderick Williams captures the passion of youth at Kings Place

By Nick Boston

Loading image...

Manchester

Premier League Vaughan Williams from The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder

By Rohan Shotton, 30 April 2022

Memorable performances of Vaughan Williams' darkest and brightest symphonies at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

*****

Loading image...

*****

Manchester

03 May 2022

Premier League Vaughan Williams from The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder

By Rohan Shotton

Loading image...

London

Biblical inspirations for Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall, 02 April 2022

The constituent parts made up a contrasting and stimulating whole: works by Lili Boulanger, Messiaen and Brahms, united by biblical inspiration. Edward Gardner marshalled the collective London Philharmonic forces.

***11

Loading image...

***11

London

03 Apr 2022

Biblical inspirations for Edward Gardner and the LPO

By Alexander Hall

Loading image...

New York City

Michel van der Aa's Upload questions the meaning of life... and of opera

By Kurt Gottschalk, 22 March 2022

Does opera have room for film? And live video? Multiple screens and advertorials? And allusions to onscreen identity and cyber-immortality?

*****

Loading image...

*****

New York City

24 Mar 2022

Upload questions the meaning of life... and of opera

By Kurt Gottschalk

Loading image...

Liverpool

Roderick Williams’ emotional Rückert-Lieder in Liverpool

By Leighton Jones, 10 March 2022

In a rather mixed and unconventional programme, Roderick Williams and Amarins Wierdsman provide the highlights of a programme of variable success in Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall.

***11

Loading image...

***11

Liverpool

12 Mar 2022

Roderick Williams’ emotional Rückert-Lieder in Liverpool

By Leighton Jones

Loading image...

London

Haydn's Creation and the LSO sing “Happy Birthday” to the Barbican

By Roy Westbrook, 03 March 2022

It is rare for the LSO to take a literal and metaphorical back seat at one of their own concerts, but they supplied every instrumental need in Haydn's joyous oratorio.

*****

Loading image...

*****

London

04 Mar 2022

Haydn's Creation and the LSO sing “Happy Birthday” to the Barbican

By Roy Westbrook

Loading image...

London

Worthy to sit beside Bach? Elder and the LPO play Sir James MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio

By David Karlin, 04 December 2021

The LPO and London Philharmonic Choir are on outstanding form for a new major choral work to tell the Christmas story.

*****

Loading image...

*****

London

05 Dec 2021

Worthy to sit beside Bach? MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio

By David Karlin

Manchester

Tears for transience: Roderick Williams sings Butterworth with The Hallé

By Roy Westbrook, 11 December 2020

Its theme of the passing of everything from cherry blossom to opera houses made this a programme for the artistic perils of our time.

****1

****1

Manchester

11 Dec 2020

Tears for transience: Roderick Williams sings Butterworth

By Roy Westbrook

London

In the round: Roderick Williams sings and directs the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

By Stephen Pritchard, 20 October 2020

Handel’s Italian cantata Apollo and Daphne is enjoying a Covid wave, perfect as it is for socially-distanced singing.

****1

****1

London

21 Oct 2020

In the round: Roderick Williams sings and directs the OAE

By Stephen Pritchard

Oxford

In the footsteps of Hafez: exploring Persian poetry at Oxford Lieder

By Mark Pullinger, 11 October 2020

A deep-dive into the world of 14th-century Persian poet, Hafez, and his influence on song across the centuries.

****1

****1

Oxford

11 Oct 2020

In the footsteps of Hafez: exploring Persian poetry at Oxford Lieder

By Mark Pullinger

London

Pulling the heart strings: Madam Butterfly returns to ENO

By Dominic Lowe, 26 February 2020

Anthony Minghella's classic production of Madam Butterfly makes a welcome return with a sensational role debut by Natalya Romaniw as Cio-Cio-San.

****1

****1

London

28 Feb 2020

Pulling the heart strings: Madam Butterfly returns to ENO

By Dominic Lowe

London

True Grimes: a gripping semi-staging of Britten’s opera

By Matthew Rye, 30 November 2019

A psychologically penetrating semi-staging of Britten’s Peter Grimes from leading soloists, the Bergen Philharmonic and its chief conductor Ed Gardner laid bare the opera’s music and drama.

****1

****1

London

01 Dec 2019

True Grimes: a gripping semi-staging of Britten’s opera

By Matthew Rye

Aix-en-Provence

Parallel symmetries and random synchronicities: Michel van der Aa’s Blank Out at Festival d’Aix

By Pwyll ap Sion, 13 July 2019

In his 2016 opera Blank Out, Dutch composer Michel van der Aa has managed to create a new kind of operatic ‘reality’ that resonates powerfully with today’s Zeitgeist. Highly recommended.

*****

*****

Aix-en-Provence

14 Jul 2019

Parallel symmetries and random synchronicities at Festival d’Aix

By Pwyll ap Sion

London

Star-studded, searing Bach at the Royal Festival Hall

By Benjamin Poore, 02 April 2019

Challenging and vivid Bach in the first UK showing of Peter Sellars' staging of Bach's great liturgical masterpiece.

****1

****1

London

03 Apr 2019

Star-studded, searing Bach at the Royal Festival Hall

By Benjamin Poore

London

Britten Sinfonia's electric Messiah: Look, no hands!

By Stephen Pritchard, 19 December 2018

A conductorless performance of Handel's masterpiece lights up the Barbican.

****1

****1

London

20 Dec 2018

Britten Sinfonia's electric Messiah: Look, no hands!

By Stephen Pritchard

London

Inspiration eludes Kramer in Britten's War Requiem at English National Opera

By Mark Valencia, 16 November 2018

The music’s explosions of volume have an open-throated magnificence.

***11

***11

London

18 Nov 2018

Inspiration eludes Kramer in Britten's War Requiem at ENO

By Mark Valencia

London

Darkness and pain in Mark Padmore's St Matthew Passion

By Benjamin Poore, 26 March 2018

A brooding and melancholy presentation of Bach’s masterpiece from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Mark Padmore.

*****

*****

London

28 Mar 2018

Darkness and pain in Mark Padmore's St Matthew Passion

By Benjamin Poore

London

Monteverdi on a doughnut: A drab Return of Ulysses fails to thrill the Roundhouse

By David Karlin, 10 January 2018

A series of ill-advised staging choices leads to a disappointingly drab performance of Monteverdi's Homeric epic.

**111

**111

London

11 Jan 2018

Monteverdi on a doughnut: Ulysses fails to thrill

By David Karlin

Edinburgh

Oundjian's Brahms disappoints, but Hadelich's Dvořák takes off in Edinburgh

By Simon Thompson, 01 December 2017

Hadelich dazzles, but Oundjian's Brahms is bland.

***11

***11

Edinburgh

01 Dec 2017

Oundjian's Brahms disappoints in Edinburgh

By Simon Thompson

London

To the field of blood: Sally Beamish's The Judas Passion

By Benjamin Poore, 25 September 2017

Suffering, forgiveness, and natural brass in a brand new dramatic oratorio

****1

****1

London

28 Sep 2017

To the field of blood: The Judas Passion

By Benjamin Poore

London

Roderick Williams’ charming birdcatcher leads a spirited revival of The Magic Flute at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 14 September 2017

In Thomas Guthrie’s revival of Sir David McVicar’s sober 2003 production of Mozart’s Singspiel, it was the pantomime elements of the show which registered strongly.

****1

****1

London

15 Sep 2017

A spirited revival of The Magic Flute at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger

Snape

Opera North sails in to the Aldeburgh Festival with a buoyant revival of Billy Budd

By Mark Valencia, 24 June 2017

At the opera’s great climaxes Suffolk’s famous wood-and-brick building could barely contain it.

*****

*****

Snape

25 Jun 2017

A buoyant revival of Billy Budd

By Mark Valencia

Bergen

Psychologically splintered: Stuart Skelton leads a stellar Peter Grimes in Bergen

By Mark Valencia, 30 May 2017

This Peter Grimes was a tale of two talents: the conductor and the star.

*****

*****

Bergen

31 May 2017

A stellar Peter Grimes in Bergen

By Mark Valencia

Birmingham

John Wilson and the CBSO present British classics with a difference

By Hedy Mühleck, 01 March 2017

A pleasant afternoon's entertainment with grand sweeps and some beautiful singing by Roderick Williams.

***11

***11

Birmingham

02 Mar 2017

British Classics with a difference

By Hedy Mühleck

Glasgow

Food for thought in Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Last Supper

By David Smythe, 14 January 2017

An excellent performance of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Last Supper receiving its Scottish première, with Roderick Williams and Susan Bickley heading a luxury cast.

****1

****1

Glasgow

15 Jan 2017

Food for thought: Birtwistle’s The Last Supper

By David Smythe

Leeds

Opera North's intensely dramatic Billy Budd in Leeds

By Richard Wilcocks, 18 October 2016

Opera North's production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, directed by Orpha Phelan, is a tense psychological drama which puts the emphasis on issues of democracy and attitudes to dictatorship.

****1

****1

Leeds

19 Oct 2016

Opera North's intensely dramatic Billy Budd

By Richard Wilcocks

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

***11

London

19 Jul 2016

King's College Choir revitalises Fauré

By Kathryn Wareham

High Wycombe

Natalya Romaniw's Tatyana the star of a stylish Eugene Onegin at Garsington

By Mark Pullinger, 03 June 2016

Michael Boyd's stylish new production is broadly traditional, apart from beyond-the-grave appearances by Lensky.

****1

****1

High Wycombe

04 Jun 2016

A stylish Eugene Onegin at Garsington

By Mark Pullinger

Leeds

Leeds Lieder's Songs of the Sea leaves audience buoyant

By Richard Wilcocks, 01 April 2016

Songs of the Sea, the opening concert of the Leeds Lieder Festival, leaves the audience in a happy and buoyant mood.

****1

****1

Leeds

03 Apr 2016

Leeds Lieder's Songs of the Sea leaves audience buoyant

By Richard Wilcocks

Amsterdam

Amsterdam world première of Blank Out a heightened sensory trip

By Jenny Camilleri, 20 March 2016

Soprano Miah Persson is the riveting protagonist in Michel van der Aa’s genre-crossing new opera, a fascinating revisiting of a tragic event.

***11

***11

Amsterdam

22 Mar 2016

Blank Out: a heightened sensory trip

By Jenny Camilleri

Manchester

Fate knocks, but uplifting performances by the Hallé

By Peter Connors, 11 February 2016

Sir Mark Elder conducted the Hallé in a fine Shostakovich 15 following moving performances of Rachmaninov's The Isle of the Dead and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, expertly sung by Roderick Williams.

****1

****1

Manchester

14 Feb 2016

Fate knocks, but uplifting performances by the Hallé

By Peter Connors

London

Roderick Williams embarks on his “Schubert Project” at The Globe

By Roy Westbrook, 01 February 2016

Not quite a song cycle and not quite a song recital, but the words and music format triumphed in the end at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

****1

****1

London

03 Feb 2016

Roderick Williams embarks on his “Schubert Project”

By Roy Westbrook

London

Sailing close to the wind: John Wilson and the Philharmonia in Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony

By Chris Garlick, 24 January 2016

Vaughan Williams and Finzi given the Philharmonia treatment with John Wilson at the helm at the Royal Festival Hall.

****1

****1

London

24 Jan 2016

Sailing close to the wind: RVW's Sea Symphony

By Chris Garlick

Rotterdam

Bold music-making in Nederlandse Reisopera’s austere Madama Butterfly

By Jenny Camilleri, 19 September 2015

Annemarie Kremer is a strong-willed, dramatically voiced Butterfly in Laurence Dale’s sensitive production.

***11

***11

Rotterdam

20 Sep 2015

Bold music-making in Reisopera’s austere Butterfly

By Jenny Camilleri

London

Prom 75: Beauty trumps drama in Rattle and the Vienna Phil's Gerontius

By David Karlin, 11 September 2015

Simon Rattle and the Vienna Philharmonic present Elgar's Dream of Gerontius as a well crafted gem of the English choral tradition, but fall short of a dramatic outpouring of human emotion and religious fervour.

***11

***11

London

12 Sep 2015

Beauty trumps drama in Vienna PhilGerontius

By David Karlin