Monthly Archives: May 2016

Geneva Camerata: Balkan fire, tepid Baroque

Geneva Camerata/Greilsammer *** Kings Place, 19th May 2016 When classically-trained musicians break the shackles of the printed score and enter the realms of world music and improvisation, the results don’t always convince. Blinded by freedom, they can freeze. The good … Continue reading

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Flawed casting in Minghella’s widescreen Butterfly at ENO

Puccini: Madama Butterfly *** English National Opera, 16th May 2016 Anthony Minghella’s 2005 staging of Madam Butterfly remains a hit with ENO’s audience. A combination of Japanese lacquer and Hollywood gloss make for a stylish production, opulently costumed by Han … Continue reading

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Reflections on fallen men: Mark Padmore at Wigmore Hall

Schumann, Wigglesworth, Janáček: Mark Padmore *** Wigmore Hall, 12th May 2016 There isn’t an ideal English title translation for Verdi’s La traviata. Often given asThe Fallen Woman, it can be more accurately translated as “the woman who has gone astray”. Even … Continue reading

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Return to the crime scene: fresh blood improves Royal Opera’s Lucia di Lammermoor

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor **** Royal Opera, 11th May 2016 Double casts are a mixed blessing. When they play side by side, there’s a temptation to indulge in ‘fantasy casting’, mixing and matching your ideal team from those available. But … Continue reading

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Winds of Change: a new bassoon concerto ushered in by the OAE

Mozart, Gordon/ OAE *** St John’s Smith Square, 7th May 2016 It’s likely that Mozart never actually heard his Clarinet Concerto performed. His friend Anton Stadler gave the première in Prague in October 1791, less than two months before the … Continue reading

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