Monthly Archives: December 2015

More than just a clown: Vivaldi’s Concerti per fagotto IV

Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto IV Sergio Azzolini; L’Onda Armonica (Naïve OP30551) The stream of releases in Naïve Classique’s Vivaldi Edition has dried to a trickle recently, a matter for some concern for all of us who have relished its revelations, … Continue reading

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Interpretations on Disc: Verdi’s Don Carlos

‘I’ve just come from Don Carlos. It is very bad… No melody, no accent. It aims at a style – but only aims.’ Critical reaction was mixed, but Georges Bizet wasn’t alone in his negative response to the première of … Continue reading

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Fifty shades of Debussy: Philippe Cassard’s masterclass in colour and rhythm

Debussy: Philippe Cassard ***** Wigmore Hall, 27th December 2015 “I love pictures almost as much as music,” Claude Debussy remarked to Edgard Varèse in 1911. Seascapes, Spanish fiestas, watery reflections and mists can all be found in his music. In … Continue reading

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Seeing double: Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin returns to Covent Garden

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin **** The Royal Opera, 19th December 2015 The question I’d longed to ask Kasper Holten when his 2013 Royal Opera staging of Eugene Onegin opened was: if you’d had a younger soprano cast as Tatyana, would you … Continue reading

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Repressed passions, Russian melancholy: Elīna Garanča makes a splendid Wigmore Hall debut

Brahms, Duparc, Rachmaninov: Elīna Garanča **** Wigmore Hall, 11th December 2015 Poise, control, stillness. Within two minutes of her Wigmore Hall debut, the qualities that make Elīna Garanča a consummate Lieder recitalist were evident. The Latvian mezzo is no scenery-chewing … Continue reading

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