Music Gallery
News & Reviews
Death in Venice, Royal Opera House
Royal crush by Tom Sutcliffe Death in Venice, Benjamin Britten’s last opera, was always a special case – special because written for the composer’s beloved (and habitually unfaithful) partner Peter Pears, but also special because of the composer’s complicated interest...
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King Arthur, St John’s, Smith Square
Brexcalibur by Robert Thicknesse Who will write the King Arthur for another fractured age? Purcell’s sweet pageant is unlikely to serve as a rallying point, I fear. But that’s surely what it was in 1691, as England and Britain began a long climb out of a half-century...
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Così fan tutte, Classical Opera, Cadogan Hall
Growing pains by Robert Thicknesse I confess I wasn’t expecting huge things from Ian Page and Classical Opera’s Così. Nice cast, for sure, but Page isn’t (despite his unswerving devotion to the composer) the greatest Mozart conductor, and his orchestra is only a bit...
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L’elisir d’amore, Glyndebourne
Potent potion Pleasing crowds since 2007, Annabel Arden’s sunny production of Donizetti’s perfect sentimental comedy runs around the country on tour before returning to the main festival again next year. I guess it will run for ever, and why not? – really it’s an...
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