A Respighi opera double-bill at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London recently was the inspiration for searching out this DVD and reporting on the piece and performance - my review of that will appear in the magazine Opera Now. Respighi's Sleeping Beauty is a short opera: it lasts

Glanert, Brahms Catriona Morison (mezzo); Christian Immler (bass-baritone); BBC Symphony Orchestra / Semyon Bychkov. Barbican Hall, London, 24.11.2023 Detlev Glanert Prague Symphony – Lyrical Fragments after Franz Kafka ( Symphony No. 4, (2019-2020, UK premiere)  Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor Two Fourth Symphonies, one co-commissioned by the BBC and

Command Performance: Music for an Empress Alexandrea Lowe (soprano); Academy of Ancient Music / Laurence Cummings (director/harpsichord). 23.11.2023 Maria Teresa Agnesi (1720-95) La Sofonisba (1748) - ‘Licenza’ (È questo il fausto giorno ... La tua sol fra l’alme belle)  Haydn Symphony No. 48 in C major, ‘Maria Theresa’

SKY BURIAL Gounod, Fauré Oliver Barlow (treble); John Brancy (baritone); Amitai Pati (tenor); Mat Collishaw (filmmaker); accentus; Insula Orchestra / Laurence Equilbey (conductor). Barbican Hall, London, 20,11.2023 Gounod – Saint François d’Assise  Fauré – Requiem    The first iteration of this film/concert was in Paris earlier this year at La

A glittering event at the British Film Institute (BFI) on the Southbank: The Ivors, 2023, with the great and the good of the music industry in attendance. This is the renamed Ivor Novello Awards, given by the Ivors Academy. The PRS is a partner (the Performing Rights Society), and the

It's that time of year again, and this one is top of an ever-growing pile of Christmas discs I aim to cover prior to the BIG DAY.Lise Davidsen is one of teh World's top singers today, and any release is a call for celebration. Here’s some background in

Stefan Plewniak is a remarkable conductor. He was in charge of the recent run of Napoleon's favourite opera, Zingaelli’s Giulietta e Romeo, at the Opéra Royal, Versailles (review to follow in the print publication Opera Now). This disc is released broadly to coincide with that (it came out October

Production: Director: Peter Konwitschny Revival director – Ruth Knight Designer – Johannes Leiacker Original Lighting designer – Joachim Klein Revival Lighting designer – Marc Rosette Translation – Martin Fitzpatrick Cast: Violetta – Nicole Chevalier Alfredo – Jose Simerilla Romero Georgio Germont – Roland Wood Flora – Amy Holyland Gaston – Zwakele Tshabalala Baron Douphol – Freddie Tong Marquis d’Obigny – Patrick