Hail to the Tallis Scholars, the world’s finest choir of Renaissance music who were in London last night for their first concert in the magnificent St-Martin-in-the-Fields. It was a glorious programme of Antoine Brumel’s 12-part Earthquake Mass, interweaved with sun-centered by American composer David Lang. Lang is one of America’s most-performed composers and his formidable…
Opera & Classical Music
London Opera and Classical Music reviews: Get the London lowdown on all the latest opera and classical music.
Bluebeard’s Castle: London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall
I grew up on regular helpings of Barbe Bleu or Bluebeard as a child, the chilling, grotesque tale of the serial killer who somehow was supposed to appeal to young French minds – together with other delightful tales such as Hansel and Gretel and Red Riding Hood. So, as I headed to the Royal Festival…
Fidelio Orchestra Café: a noteworthy musical salon in Clerkenwell
Last updated on March 29th, 2022Oh happy, happy me. I’m sitting in a buzzy Clerkenwell outpost by the name of Fidelio Orchestra Café, listening to my first round of classical music since the L-word rocked into town and threw café owners and musicians alike into creative and financial disarray. So, it particularly warms the heart…
NW Live at the Bloomsbury Festival 2020
Last updated on October 28th, 2020With further restrictions looming in the London air like a thick Dickensian fog, I spent last week dashing around town trying to tick as many cultural boxes as possible. On Friday, I managed to catch up with some music – and not just any ordinary music. This was the Music…
Oxford Lieder 2020 Review: Song in the Age of Corona
Covid-19 and its pesky restrictions threw a spanner in the Oxford Lieder Festival 2020 works this year, but it didn’t dampen the spirits or the music. The UK’s biggest song festival went online instead, streaming over 40 magnificent recital concerts and events, most of them live and all set in historical surroundings across the city….
Vache Baroque Festival: Dido and Aeneas review
What a cracking start to the shiny new Vache Baroque Festival which kicked off with an enchanting production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. And a double dose of September showers did nothing to dampen the audience’s spirits. We were more than delighted to tuck into the one-hour Baroque fancy in the grounds of this…
Waterperry Opera Festival 2020 – Review: Così fan tutte and Ariel
Last updated on August 17th, 2020This week was one of firsts: I was introduced to the delightful Waterperry Opera Festival; picnicked in a socially-distanced lawn pod listening to Mozart’s Così fan tutte; sampled some of British composer Jonathan Dove’s genius amongst the butterflies and the bumblebees; and got lost in Waterperry Gardens, the festival’s enchanting…
A Tour of Handel’s London – Visit 16 Handel Locations
Last updated on June 4th, 2021George Frideric Handel was born in Germany, but he spent a whopping 47 years in London, arriving here when he was just 26. He went on to write some of the world’s most famous operas and oratorios in the capital and became the toast of London town. His patrons included…
Luisa Miller at the English National Opera
Last updated on February 20th, 2020I braced Storm Dennis’s ferocious embrace on Saturday night for a dose of operatic drama in the company of the English National Opera’s Luisa Miller. This is the ENO’s first staging of Verdi’s fifteenth opera and one which I have been longing to see for years. Written when Verdi was…
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground at the Royal Opera House
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground at the Royal Opera House is as mad as a box of frogs. The much-loved children’s tale of delicious nonsense has been condensed into a 55-minute rollercoaster of an opera, written by Irish composer Gerald Barry and directed and designed by Antony McDonald. Anything is possible during this topsy-turvy muchness of…