2024 is the centenary of Puccini’s death. In order to honour the great man, James Clutton, Director of Opera at OHP, opted to put on Tosca this season and also Edgar, a little-known early work of Puccini’s. Edgar premiered at La Scala in 1899 and received a lacklustre reception. Believing he could improve on the opera,…
Tag: Classical music
“a warm tribute” – Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes & Fugues
“a warm tribute” – Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes & Fugues
Paul Grant Cuts It as the Barber of Seville at Opera Holland Park
It was over to Opera Holland Park again, this time for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. In its time, this opera was a huge success and it remains popular to this day. I have seen it twice in the last few months, at English National Opera, and last Thursday at Opera Holland Park. What makes this such…
Tosca and her Toy Boy tenor impress at OHP
Opera Holland Park has opened the season with Puccini’s operatic blockbuster Tosca. At OHP the stage was transformed into a back alley in Rome. It was 1968, mid-election, and there was trouble on the streets. In the opening scene, the police laid into demonstrators, political prisoners hid out in the church, while police chief, Scarpia, issued…
The Kukal Quartet make their UK debut at the Czech Centre London
2024 has been the “Year of Czech Music” at the Czech Centre, London. Concerts and films have abounded to remind Londoners not only of the Czech Republic’s incredibly rich heritage but also of its continuing support for its emerging arts and music. One Czech quartet which came to my attention this week was the Kukal…
A reflective, sensitive musical journey with pianist Ashley Wass
BLACK & WHITE Ashley Wass, piano This new release from British pianist Ashley Wass celebrates a significant milestone in his musical life – some 40 years since he first touched the keys of a piano. Black and White, the album and corresponding live concerts, is a reflection of the Wass’s desire to find stillness, focus…
‘Every Tree Speaks To Me’ Peter Ash, conductor of the Odyssey Festival Orchestra, talks about his latest project
American-born conductor and composer, Peter Ash, has always embraced ambitious classical music projects. With the Odyssey Festival Orchestra, an orchestra he founded, he has built up a huge following, presenting classical music in new, exciting ways. Last year, he packed out the Cadogan Hall with Astonish Me – Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Karine Hetherington…
Noriko Ogawa – soon to play at King’s Place, speaks to ArtMuseLondon
Pianist Noriko Ogawa is an internationally respected pianist and recording artist. She is one of the judges of the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition and is soon to play at King’s Place with the current winner of the 2023 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, pianist, Can Çakmur, On 19th January 2024 you will be playing with Can at…
The Innocent Ear
The Innocent Ear was a radio programme, broadcast on the Third Programme (which became BBC Radio 3) in which listeners were invited to “preserve [their] ‘innocence’” by not trying to guess the composer, and by approaching the music with fresh judgment, freed from prejudice”. The music broadcast would be identified afterwards, thus freeing the listener’s…
Retrospecstive 2021: slight return
One more look in the rear-view mirror before 2021 disappears completely… After the multi-course blowout of choosing 25 recordings of the year, this is more of a digestif, if you will. A few events and developments that gave me cause for celebration: one each for pop, classical, TV, media and film. Bon ‘Voyage’: the return…
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