West End and Broadway leading man Michael Xavier discusses starring opposite Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard in London and New York, his working processes for theatre and film, and his MX Masterclasses for aspiring young performers.… [Read…
Here’s a Mahler 6 that comes with its own historical context. Unlikely as it may now seem, Essen was where Mahler first performed the harrowing Sixth in 1906 and the Essener Philharmoniker is the orchestra that can…
Whenever I listen to the First Symphony I am mindful of how dramatically Bernstein started as he meant to go on – a symphony, a ballet (Fancy Free) and a Broadway musical (On the Town) all feverishly…
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I think this to be a masterpiece – perhaps Bernstein’s most significant, and certainly his most creatively virtuosic, work. But it is also his most challenging stylistically and for a…
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…
The beauty of this coupling lies with the way in which two such highly distinctive works impact upon each other. The Brahms feels more radical for the proximity of the Schoenberg; the Schoenberg feels more romantic for…
Andrew Haveron joins very select, indeed mighty, company – from Heifetz to Mutter and beyond – in the Korngold Concerto. But his collaboration with John Wilson in the nursing and shaping of strings lines from the concert…
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…
The word ‘chivalrous’ invariably comes to mind with the opening measures of Bruckner Sixth. Knights errant galloping towards new adventures, colourful pennants flying with that first brassy tutti. There’s also more than a hint of Wagner’s Die…
As some readers may be aware, a significant proportion of my journalism these days is given over to a favourite format – the live public interview. As I write this column an exciting four days beckon during…
