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: review
Crown prints: ‘Royal Portraits’, The King’s Gallery, London
Subtitled ‘A Century of Photography’, this is an absolute crowd-pleaser of an exhibition, precision-tooled to draw in the fascinated tourist alongside the domestic royal-watcher. However, whatever your views on the monarchy (which, I can assure you, it won’t change in any way), I still think it deserves your attention. This is a show equally concerned…
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…
Inside tracks: Olivia Chaney, ‘Circus of Desire’
Because Olivia Chaney only makes great records, it’s tempting to take her new album ‘Circus of Desire’ almost for granted: of course it’s another 40 minutes of uninterrupted beauty and understated elegance. But to do so would be a terrible mistake, especially if it meant ignoring the knotty contradictions and thrilling undercurrents in this latest…
Dress code: ‘Sargent and Fashion’, Tate Britain, London
Anyone with an interest in portraiture will want to see this exhibition – a glorious opportunity to see more than 50 of John Singer Sargent’s paintings gathered in one place. The fashion theme provides a fascinating through-line, a starting point to appreciate the skill and complexity of Sargent’s compositions. But there are multiple layers to…
Spiritual awakening: Leon Bosch & Rebeca Omordia in concert and on disc
The African Concert Series was originally founded and curated by pianist Rebeca Omordia to shine a spotlight on African art music: the diverse work of African composers who, as the series website explains, create “a bridge between Western classical music and African traditional music”. Launched in 2019, the series has had a torrid infancy. After…
Retrospecstive 2023: Adrian Ainsworth’s 25 recordings of the year
At last! The wait is over. Here is my round-up of favourite releases from the previous calendar year. 2023 felt richer than ever and there were so many wonderful records to choose from. As usual, I’ve spared myself the agony of ranking the selections: democracy rules and the list is in alphabetical order, by artist…
The vast picture show: ‘The Big Screen’, Kulturforum, Berlin
Any cinema enthusiasts within visiting distance of Berlin should head to the Kulturforum (the city’s major arts complex located near Potsdamer Platz) before the end of February. Until then, it plays host to ‘The Big Screen’, a huge, wide-ranging exhibition chronicling the development of the film poster, alongside the evolution of cinema itself. A show…
Astral peaks: Raf and O, ‘We are Stars’
This is the most exquisite album yet from Raf and O, who I believe belong to that select group of artists who create not only great music, but also a universe in which that music can live and breathe. Open and upfront about their key influences – chiefly David Bowie and Kate Bush, more of…
Past and present collide: Saariaho, ‘Innocence’, Royal Opera House, London
Perhaps the most compelling testament to the impact of ‘Innocence’ is that I’ve thought about little else since the curtain fell. Knowing I would want to write about it, I’ve felt the intricacies of the piece turning round in my mind, dovetailing with each other, not unlike the interlocking 3D jigsaw of a set that…
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