by Alex Leith | Mar 2, 2025 | Music, Uncategorized
When George Bernard Shaw was sent to the East End to write a review, he asked his editor if he should take a pistol. Perhaps appropriately then Whitechapel’s Wilton’s Music Hall – hardly changed since its opening in 1859 – is transformed into a dangerous South... 
by Alex Leith | Aug 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
The self-imposition of playing an entire Proms programme from memory produced the most astounding results when the Aurora Orchestra attempted this feat with Beethoven’s Choral Symphony in front of a crowd of five thousand in the summer. Playing ‘off by... 
by Alex Leith | Jul 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
Large crowds converged through the waving cornfields of Essex on the shard-like spire of Thaxted’s mediaeval church at the weekend. Passengers on the flight path into Stansted saw the festival hubbub below: the bunting, drinks tent and homemade cake stall. Safety... 
by Alex Leith | Jun 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is reasonably shipshape as we launch into the Proms Season with itself leading the fleet of BBC ensembles and other national and international ensembles. At the end of May, we cruised through a programme of British twentieth century works... 
by Alex Leith | Mar 14, 2024 | Music, Uncategorized
Jonathan Eyers as Figaro and Joseph Doody as The Count. Photo by Bill Knight. Wilton’s Music Hall, Whitechapel, London Charles Court Opera’s production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville is a hilarious delight from beginning to end. The venue is the utterly...