Tag Archives: John Eliot Gardiner

Berlioz with a bronze glow as Benvenuto Cellini crowns 150th anniversary

Prom 59: Benvenuto Cellini Gardiner/ ORR, Royal Albert Hall, 2nd September 2019 “Concert performance” the Proms Guide had announced, primly underselling what turned out to be an exuberant “production” – fully costumed, if without many actual props – of Berlioz’ … Continue reading

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Semele crashes and burns, but Louise Alder soars up at Ally Pally

Handel: Semele Alexandra Palace, 2nd May 2019 “Behold a new-erected palace rise!” Iris tells Juno in Act 2 of Semele. Alexandra Palace wasn’t even built when Handel’s “bawdy opera” was premiered in Covent Garden in 1744, but its theatre is … Continue reading

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Byron’s Harold the unlikely star in Gardiner’s Berlioz bonanza

Prom 71: ORR/ Gardiner ***** Royal Albert Hall, 5th September 2018 “Q: Why can you often find viola players standing outside your front door? A: They can’t find the right key and never know when to come in!” Viola players … Continue reading

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The tongs and the bones: Vivid Mendelssohn from Gardiner and the LSO

Mendelssohn: LSO/Gardiner **** Barbican Hall, 16th February 2016 Recapturing one’s youth is a favourite preoccupation of thirty-somethings. Few recaptured it quite as vivaciously as Felix Mendelssohn. Sixteen years after composing his A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture – all gossamer wings … Continue reading

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