Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Sir Thomas Allen

Scottish Barber of Seville packed with fun

By David Smythe, 17 October 2023

Sir Thomas Allen returns to Scottish Opera to revive The Barber of Seville with a strong cast headed by Samuel Dale Johnson, Anthony Gregory, David Stout and Simone McIntosh.

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Glasgow

17 Oct 2023

Scottish Barber of Seville packed with fun

By David Smythe

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Sir Thomas Allen directs a delightful Don Giovanni at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 21 May 2022

Set in the sinister backstreets of Venice, this production from 2013 boasts strong singing all around and brisk, bright conducting by Stuart Stratford.

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Glasgow

21 May 2022

Sir Thomas Allen directs a delightful Don Giovanni at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

Edinburgh

Devilish downpour cannot dampen The Soldier's Tale at the EIF

By Roy Westbrook, 21 August 2021

Rarely has so distinguished a group been assembled to give this work live; it would have shone as a highlight even in a normal year of visiting foreign ensembles and performers.

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Edinburgh

21 Aug 2021

Devilish downpour cannot dampen The Soldier's Tale at the EIF

By Roy Westbrook

Stovepipe hats are back: Scottish Opera’s steampunk Magic Flute returns

By David Smythe, 04 May 2019

Sir Thomas Allen’s crowd-pleasing Magic Flute returns to Scottish Opera in a finely sung performance with Tobias Ringborg drawing period colours from the orchestra.

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Glasgow

04 May 2019

Scottish Opera’s steampunk Magic Flute returns

By David Smythe

There's no disguising it: duplicity and deceit as Così fan tutte returns to The Royal Opera

By Stephen Pritchard, 25 February 2019

Everyone is in the know in Jan Philipp Gloger's “School for Lovers”, receiving its first revival at Covent Garden.

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London

25 Feb 2019

Duplicity and deceit as Così returns to The Royal Opera

By Stephen Pritchard

Missing too many bullseyes: Bernstein's Candide semi-staged by the LSO

By Mark Valencia, 08 December 2018

Jane Archibald gave possibly the most dazzling account of Cunegonde's music that I’ve heard.

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London

08 Dec 2018

Bernstein's Candide semi-staged by the LSO

By Mark Valencia

Scottish Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos is witty and passionate

By David Smythe, 24 March 2018

Antony McDonald’s take on Ariadne auf Naxos, a co-production from Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, sparkles with wit.

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Glasgow

24 Mar 2018

Scottish Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos is witty and passionate

By David Smythe

The Met's Merry Widow fails to convince

By Edward Sava-Segal, 16 December 2017

A conventional and quite predictable staging of Lehár’s most famous operetta was saved by dedicated musicians.

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New York City

16 Dec 2017

The Met's Merry Widow fails to convince

By Edward Sava-Segal

Glyndebourne

Keep calm and carry on singing: love and art overcome wartime adversity in Glyndebourne’s Ariadne

By Matthew Rye, 25 June 2017

A superlative cast and perceptive staging make for a gripping revival of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Glyndebourne Festival.

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Glyndebourne

25 Jun 2017

Keep calm and carry on singing

By Matthew Rye

Manchester

A shattering Gurre-Lieder from the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Sir Mark Elder

By Rohan Shotton, 04 June 2017

Sir Mark Elder's 70th birthday Gurre-Lieder threatens to dislodge the roof in Manchester with the combined forces of the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic

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Manchester

04 Jun 2017

A shattering Gurre-Lieder from the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Sir Mark Elder

By Rohan Shotton

The indiscreet charmlessness of the bourgeoisie: Adès brings The Exterminating Angel to opera

By David Karlin, 24 April 2017

Luis Buñuel's derision at the sense of entitlement of over-privileged, self-righteous prigs shines through a high quality operatic adaptation.

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London

24 Apr 2017

Adès brings The Exterminating Angel to opera

By David Karlin

Borderline sumptuous: Scottish Opera revives The Marriage of Figaro

By Gregor Forbes, 12 October 2016

Inventive comedy and excellent musicality bring Sir Thomas Allen’s traditional production back to life.

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Glasgow

12 Oct 2016

Borderline sumptuous: Scottish Opera's Figaro

By Gregor Forbes

Salzburg

The Exterminating Angel: A Salzburg world première in a surreal atmosphere

By Christine Arnold, 28 July 2016

The Salzburg Festival audience warmly applauded Thomas Adès, Tom Cairns and all musicians for a rounded and gripping première.

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Salzburg

28 Jul 2016

Surreal première: The Exterminating Angel

By Christine Arnold

Manchester

Sir Thomas Allen and Joseph Middleton: Echoes of a Mountain Song

By Imogen Phoebe Webb, 30 March 2016

Wednesday night saw the masterful rendition of British songs, by the legendary baritone at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, part of the ‘Echoes of a Mountain Song’ series.

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Manchester

30 Mar 2016

Echoes of a Mountain Song in Manchester

By Imogen Phoebe Webb

Karita Mattila a peerless Ariadne at the Royal Opera

By David Karlin, 10 October 2015

Jane Archibald and Ruxandra Donose provide a compelling prologue to Ariadne auf Naxos, while Karita Mattila's majestic performance lights up the opera seria second half.

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London

10 Oct 2015

Karita Mattila a peerless Ariadne

By David Karlin

Kurzak and Pidò inspire a rumbustious Turco in Italia in Caurier and Leiser's Dolce Vita production

By David Karlin, 11 April 2015

Aleksandra Kurzak delivers a top drawer performance as Fiorilla, leading a star-studded cast as Evelino Pidò gives us a lesson in how to conduct Rossini in the latest revival of Il turco in Italia.

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London

11 Apr 2015

Kurzak and Pidò inspire a rumbustious Turco in Italia

By David Karlin

Gala opening to The Merry Widow at The Metropolitan Opera

By David Browning, 31 December 2014

Only the slightest of quibbles with a fun, frothy new production of The Merry Widow at The Met.

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New York City

31 Dec 2014

Gala opening to The Met's The Merry Widow

By David Browning

Gateshead

Britten in Gateshead: The North East's War Requiem

By Jane Shuttleworth, 08 November 2014

Sir Thomas Allen and Robert Murray give a compelling performance as the two soldiers in Britten's War Requiem.

Gateshead

08 Nov 2014

The North East's War Requiem

By Jane Shuttleworth

Naxos capitulates, Mattila’s Ariadne reigns

By Mark Pullinger, 25 June 2014

As revivals go, Karita Mattila and Jane Archibald make the Royal Opera's Ariadne auf Naxos a must-see.

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London

25 Jun 2014

Naxos capitulates, Mattila’s Ariadne reigns

By Mark Pullinger

Minimalist intensity: Robert Carsen's Dialogues des Carmélites at Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 29 May 2014

Robert Carsen’s production is an exercise in extreme minimalism. Dialogues des Carmélites is a great opera, and this production touches greatness without quite grasping it in both hands.

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London

29 May 2014

Minimalist intensity: Robert Carsen's Dialogues des Carmélites at Covent Garden

By David Karlin

Scottish Opera's sinister Venetian Don Giovanni suits the dark tale perfectly

By David Smythe, 26 October 2013

A year of theatre refurbishment leaves Scottish Opera with only three and half full productions this season, so the spotlight turned firmly onto this Don Giovanni from director Sir Thomas Allen, designer Simon Higlett and lighting designer Mark Jonathan.

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Glasgow

26 Oct 2013

Scottish Opera: Don Giovanni

By David Smythe

Edinburgh

Edinburgh International Festival: Scottish Chamber Orchestra play Fauré's Requiem led by Robin Ticciati

By Alan Coady, 17 August 2013

A concert programme can resemble a puzzle; searching for links and contrasts often results in a more enjoyable, unified experience. I therefore strove to arrive in sufficient time for a careful reading of the programme notes for this performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Usher Hall, part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

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Edinburgh

17 Aug 2013

Edinburgh International Festival: Scottish Chamber Orchestra play Fauré's Requiem led by Robin Ticciati

By Alan Coady

Chicago

Don Pasquale sparkles at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Kristina Powers, 25 November 2012

The human race craves comic relief... a universally accepted fact throughout the entire history of mankind. Comic books, sitcoms, comic theater... all seek to blissfully whisk us out of the doldrums and politics of today’s ever-busy society.

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Chicago

25 Nov 2012

Don Pasquale sparkles at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

By Kristina Powers

Scottish Opera's steampunk Magic Flute delights

By David Smythe, 27 October 2012

Following acclaimed productions at Scottish Opera of The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville, recently revived, Thomas Allen returns to Glasgow to direct The Magic Flute.

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Glasgow

27 Oct 2012

Scottish Opera's steampunk Magic Flute delights

By David Smythe

Miller's no-frills Mozart is back: Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House

By Francesca Vella, 27 January 2012

The last opera of the Mozart/Da Ponte cycle – the second of the composer’s operas to be performed in this Mozart-dominated season at the Royal Opera House – Così fan tutte pivots on two pairs of young lovers whose affection is put to the test by an old ‘philosopher’, Don Alfonso. Women, the old man argues, are all the same: never constant in their love, never loyal to their men.

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London

27 Jan 2012

Miller's no-frills Mozart is back: Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House

By Francesca Vella

Ariadne auf Naxos

By Dr.B, 10 May 2011

The Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos was inspired by the Moliere play The Middle-Class Gentleman. The richest man in Vienna has arranged for two entertainments--one a serious opera composed by a young man just for the occasion, and the other an Italian comedy group. He decides at the last minute to combine the two into one entertainment. If he were a proper gentleman, he would know better.

New York City

10 May 2011

Ariadne auf Naxos

By Dr.B

Wacky Ariadne Marvels But Isn't Marvelous

By Gale Martin, 07 May 2011

Tumblers and fire jugglers in rainbow colors. Singing nymphs soaring for stories into the air. Arias deeply dramatic and broadly comic. The Metropolitan Opera’s interpretation of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss is a magical mashup of modern and classic, seria and buffa, technique and technology that pleases but falls short of terrific for this reviewer.

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New York City

07 May 2011

Wacky Ariadne Marvels But Isn't Marvelous

By Gale Martin

Hurrah! The Witch is Dead!

By Hilary Fisher, 29 December 2010

This reviewer fully expected not to enjoy today’s matinee, having read the recent Guardian review and heard mixed reports from friends who saw it when it first came out.

London

29 Dec 2010

Hurrah! The Witch is Dead!

By Hilary Fisher