The years have undoubtedly taken their toll and what seemed so fresh and new in 1993 – the pristine abstractions of Richard Hudson’s design, the washes of orange and gold light, the assertively jolly Brueghelesque costumes – now looks a little pantomimic. And yet the Shakespearian artifice of Graham Vick’s thoughtful and much-admired staging of … [Read More]
Edward Seckerson
Reviews, Blogs, Podcasts
Reviews, Podcasts and Blogs
Classical music, Opera and Musical Theatre reviews
Monthly Archives: December 2011
Wagner “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, Royal Opera House
Tagged with: antonio pappano, die meistersinger, emma bell, graham vick, john tomlinson, peter coleman-wright, royal opera, simon o'neill, toby spence, wagner, wolfgang koch
Posted in Reviews
Posted in Reviews
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Fleming, Eschenbach, Royal Festival Hall
With Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture raising the curtain, so to speak, Renée Fleming arrived like Venus in a soufflé of black and bronze layered chiffon. Or to be more in keeping with the Strauss Four Last Songs she was about to sing, a gown fit for a Countess. No one makes an entrance or wears a … [Read More]
Tagged with: beethoven, christoph eschenbach, london philharmonic orchestra, renee fleming, strauss four last songs
Posted in Reviews
Posted in Reviews
Britten Sinfonia & Voices, Elder, Queen Elizabeth Hall
The onstage mingling of orchestra, soloists, and conductor prior to this seasonal performance of Berlioz’ L’enfance du Christ was presumably designed to lend a more intimate, informal tone to the start of the evening so that the music could “emerge”, as it were, without the usual formalities of bows and applause. And it might not … [Read More]
Tagged with: allan clayton, berlioz, britten sinfonia, britten sinfonia voices, mark elder, neal davies, roderick williams, sarah connolly
Posted in Reviews
Posted in Reviews
London Symphony Orchestra, Mutter, Gergiev, Barbican Hall
For anyone who’s ever thought that the term Vorsprung durch Technik might be better applied to the superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter than a certain brand of automobile her hair-raising account of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra will have given pause. The spirit was so wild and the risks so … [Read More]
Tagged with: anne-sophie mutter, london symphony orchestra, shostakovich, tchaikovsky, valery gergiev, wolfgang rihm
Posted in Reviews
Posted in Reviews
Podcasts: excite and engage your audiences.