Nick has an MA in Music, specialising in performance and repertoire. His particular passions are choral music, chamber music and opera, with a particular interest in early music. He sings in a number of choirs in the south east of England, plays the piano and occasionally dusts off the violin. He writes about music here.
Robert Carsen's Aida focusses on the brutality of war, with powerful lead performances from Angel Blue, SeokJong Baek and Elīna Garanča, plus strong orchestral colours from Sir Mark Elder.
Nikolai Lugansky demonstrates variety and depth, with lyrical melodies, ringing bells and crazy virtuosity in a captivating all-Rachmaninov recital at Wigmore Hall.
How many of Albéric Magnard's 22 works do you know? Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the Orsino Ensemble perform his Quintet in D minor to Wigmore Hall and it becomes the sixth star of the evening.
The Brodsky Quartet deliver deeply moving performances of all 15 Shostakovich string quartets, with added value and insight from writers Elizabeth Wilson and Marina Frolova-Walker.
A strong cast led by Bekhzod Davronov and Gabriella Reyes plus an intense production helps Floris Visser unusual staging of La bohème stand out from the crowd.
The massed ranks of the LSO, the London Symphony and CBSO Choruses, Dame Sarah Connolly and Louise Alder gather for a staggering Mahler 2 at the BBC Proms.
Primordial Icelandic energy in Anna Thorvaldsdottir's premiere was followed by lightness of touch from Kian Soltani in Elgar and thoughtfully commanding Sibelius.
An exciting European premiere of Nicole Lizée's percussion concerto from Colin Currie, Alpesh Chauhan and the BBC SSO, followed by touching intensity in Bruckner, and an assured Shostakovich Fifth Symphony.
Yuja Wang showed once again that she has way more to offer than fireworks, with delicacy, dynamic control and sensitive expression too in her wide ranging programme.
A vast panopticon cages strong musical performances in Wake-Walker's Fidelio at Glyndebourne, with Dorothea Herbert and Adam Smith standing out vocally and emotionally as Leonore and Florestan.
