‘Opera that does not look away’ is the theme of English National Opera’s 2026/27 season – and in the case of ‘Angel’s Bone’, one might wonder ‘where to look?’ This one-act lightning bolt of a piece by composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek feels like an alchemical conversion of adrenaline to music. Hardly pausing…
Category: contemporary
Clairvoyants: ‘Oracle’, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London
‘Oracle’ is a controlled explosion of an opera, a simmering cauldron of folly and fury. By turns a dark comedy, paranormal thriller, biting satire and apocalyptic horror, it kicks against its description as a chamber piece. Racing through a dazzling array of ideas in its 40-odd minutes (which feel more like a 4-minute warning), it…
Going for a song: a recital disc round-up
Do not adjust your browser: this is not my annual ‘recordings of the year’ post, four months early. However, I feel that in my favourite area of classical music – song – there’s been an especially exciting run of releases during 2026: far too many to post about at length, or wait longer to do…
Musical moment: Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, ‘1901’, Wigmore Hall, London, UK
2026 marks Wigmore Hall’s 125th anniversary, and the venue has been celebrating its birth year in style, with a fortnight-long festival of over 20 concerts. This jewel among them took us back to when the Hall opened its doors, with every song featured dating back to 1901. Followers of this duo will already be familiar…
“Why, I auteur…”: ‘The Makropulos Case’ (mostly), Royal Ballet & Opera, London
The latest in the Royal Opera’s Janáček cycle, this is their first production of ‘The Makropulos Case’ – and mine, too. I was excited to be seeing at last this piece that I’d read about but, appropriately enough, had difficulty imagining as a real experience. Please note that this write-up includes ‘spoilers’ to a certain…
Oxford Circus: ‘John Le Carré: Tradecraft’, Weston Library, Oxford
John Le Carré insisted that he was a writer first, and sometime spy second – and this excellent exhibition drawn from the author’s archive honours that self-image. It’s easy to emerge from the exit thinking Le Carré was half man, half words but – appropriately enough – the reality is not so simple. The entrance…
Absence makes the art grow stronger: Bitter Ruin, ‘Arches & Enemies’
Bitter Ruin’s music, high wire and high octane, has always found the sweet spot between intimacy and impact. The duo – Georgia Train (vocals) and Ben Richards (instruments, vocals) – possess a kind of volatile creative chemistry that allowed their records to calm one minute, combust the next. Live, they really were stage animals, presenting…
Active listening: The Necks, Cafe OTO, London
Dalston’s Cafe OTO hides in plain sight, tucked away from the main drag, the venue’s name invisible to the outside observer until their nose is almost pressed up against the chalkboard by the door. Intimate and somehow inscrutable – quite an achievement for a premises – it hosts a jaw-dropping variety of free jazz and…
Blood ties: ‘Festen’, Royal Opera; ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’, English National Opera
It’s been an intense week. Two operas, over two consecutive evenings, spent with two explosively dysfunctional onstage families. Time to decompress. If you keep an eye on London operantics, you’ll be aware of the world première of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s ‘Festen’ (libretto by Lee Hall, directed by Richard Jones) at Royal Ballet & Opera. And if…
Retrospecstive 2024: Adrian Ainsworth’s albums of the year
Time again for my annual labour of love, rounding up my favourite releases of the past year. As usual, I’ve ranged across genres as freely as I can in the time and space available – so I sincerely hope you will browse through the selections and find something intriguing. A bit of housekeeping. Where possible,…
