Writing on walls: Handel’s Belshazzar in Oslo

By Aksel Tollåli, 10 March 2016

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“a sinewy lyricism in the slower arias and a determined agitation in the faster ones”

Reviewed at Oslo Cathedral, Oslo on 7 March 2016

Handel, Belshazzar

Accademia Bizantina

Norwegian Soloists' Choir

Rosemary Joshua, Soprano

Thomas Walker, Tenor

Delphine Galou, Contralto

Andreas Wolf, Bass

Raffaele Pe, Countertenor

Ottavio Dantone, Harpsichord

Barrie Kosky's Agrippina is finally crowned at DNO

Eleanor Knight, 13th January

The Australian director's 2019 production of Handel's satirical comedy-thriller arrives in Amsterdam, with a cast led by the fabulous Stéphanie d'Oustrac.

****1

Sacred, secular... and stylish: Accademia Bizantina celebrates Vivaldi

Mark Pullinger, 9th April

Two concerts at Milton Court intersperse The Four Seasons with concertos from L'estro armonico and sacred cantatas featuring countertenor John Holiday.

****1

Enescu Festival sheds light on another 18th-century gem

Edward Sava-Segal, 8th September

In the Bucharest performance, the individual vocal contributions were consistently good, with some really standing out.

****1

Giulio Cesare in concert: Lawrence Zazzo and Emőke Baráth came, saw and conquered Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 18th October

An outstanding cast under Ottavio Dantone at the Theater an der Wien was headed by Lawrence Zazzo and Emőke Baráth.

****1

Intimate devotion to a lamenting mother

Olivia Bell, 14th March

Joined by the exquisitely subtle Accademia Bizantina led by Alessandro Tampieri, Scholl brought little-known but no less great devotions to the Virgin Mary to life with impetus and intimacy.

****1

Viktoria Mullova and Accademia Bizantina's play Bach concertos in Bristol

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 17th October

In a rare appearance outside London in the UK, world-renowned Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova, harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone and the Italian ensemble Accademia Bizantina took to the stage at St George’s Bristol to perform four Baroque concertos by J.S. Bach.

***11

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Aksel Tollåli

Aksel is currently studying towards a degree in musicology at the University of Oslo. At the moment he is an exchange student at Goldsmiths College in London. He is also a choral singer and a trombonist. His musical interests include 20th-cenury French music, Baroque opera and the music of Richard Strauss.