GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – February 2021
When it was first proposed that we might expand the Music Theatre content in Gramophone to include musicals and other less easily definable forms of music drama the question arose as to where they should be placed…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – November 2020
Among the many treasured recordings that I have found refuge in during a spring, summer and autumn of discontent for live music and theatre this year a souvenir DVD of the fabulous 2005 David McVicar staging of…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – Awards 2020 Issue
Reflecting on ‘Callow meets Rattle’ in the September issue, the theatre animal within me (some readers may be unaware that I was briefly an actor in another life) is moved to consider once more why Leos Janacek…
COMPARING NOTES: Danielle de Niese in Conversation
Opera star Danielle de Niese discusses Handel and Offenbach at Glyndebourne, Man of La Mancha at London Coliseum, the relationship between opera, operetta and musical theatre, vocal technique and career longevity with Edward Seckerson.… [Read More]
COMPARING NOTES: Dame Sarah Connolly in Conversation
Distinguished mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly discusses her new recording of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, singing Handel at Glyndebourne and ENO, Fricka in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, admired directors and dream roles with…
COMPARING NOTES: Edward Gardner in Conversation
Edward Gardner, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra discusses Britten’s Peter Grimes, his appointment as Prinicpal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and his rich recording relationship with Chandos Records wth Edward Seckerson.… [Read More]
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – June 2020
I want to reopen the debate on Beethoven and the voice. And particularly with regard to Fidelio which I caught at the Royal Opera House in the wake of a lively public encounter with Antonio Pappano at…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – May 2020
Of all the singers I have admired but never met over the years my biggest regret was not having broken bread with Mirella Freni. We lost her in January and the waves of admiration and enthusiasm for…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Offenbach Six Fables de La Fontaine – Karine Deshayes, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie/Haeck
The shocking pink packaging says it all. If Offenbach had a colour then this might be it. Then there’s the quirky illustration of besuited animals relating, of course, to the Six Fables of De La Fontaine –…
GRAMOPHONE Review: ‘Wien’ – Jonas Kaufmann, Rachel Willis-Sørenson, Vienna Philharmonic/Fischer
If you’re watching the calories, stop reading now. This evocative collection of Viennese sweetmeats, of wine, women, song and Sachertorte, does not countenance the notion of abstinence. Kaufmann’s love affair with Vienna – City of Dreams –…
