Rigoletto, English National Opera, London Coliseum
The hunchback slumps in his chair like some malevolent watchkeeper – master of all he surveys. But as the black front curtain is drawn back like a shroud or veil of deceit, the world according to Rigoletto…
Happy Days, Young Vic
“Happy Days”. It’s a throw-away phrase, an all-purpose “we’re still here” pleasantry, a little more specific than “cheers” and perhaps a bit (some would say a lot) more hopeful. Samuel Beckett’s devastating play turns it into a…
London Symphony Orchestra, Jansen, Pappano, Barbican Hall
There were, it seemed, enough trumpets to serve Gabriel throughout eternity – and, as fanfares go, this one was stretching a point and then some. LSO On Track had commissioned it from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and…
Peter Grimes, English National Opera, London Coliseum
English National Opera’s “ownership” of Britten’s Peter Grimes was more than a little advanced by the arrival of David Alden’s thrilling staging in 2009 – and seeing it again now only confirms what I thought and felt…
Claudio Abbado 1933-2014
Conductors achieving superstar status are rarely shy, self-effacing, and humble – but that was the paradox characterising Claudio Abbado throughout his extraordinary career. I came in during the nine years he was Principal Conductor of the London…
Putting It Together, St James Theatre
Watching the Stephen Sondheim/Julia McKenzie compilation cabaret Putting It Together (is that a fair description of this hybrid?) in its latest incarnation – courtesy of producer/musical supervisor Alex Parker – one’s thoughts turn once more to the…
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Power, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall (Review)
Nothing follows Mahler 6 and surely nothing should precede it. Nothing. Even a piece as compelling as James MacMillan’s Viola Concerto here receiving its World Premiere under the extraordinary fingers of its dedicatee Lawrence Power. There’s only…
A Spoonful of Sherman, St. James’ Theatre Studio
It’s scary being reminded of so much of one’s youth in a single evening and realising that, yes, your parents really did buy you the single (which you played incessantly) of “Let’s Get Together” featuring twice as…
Mitsuko Uchida, Musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wigmore Hall
Exactly what constitutes “the End of Time” in Olivier Messiaen’s extraordinary Quartet for piano, violin, cello and clarinet? Not surely “the end of days” but rather the end of measured time; music unfettered, music of the spheres,…
Adams “El Nino”, Royal Festival Hall
During the momentous last century – so richly contextualised in the South Bank’s The Rest is Noise festival – there were two points at which factions within the musical establishment sought to step back, take stock, and…