Tag Archives: Mozart

Period clarinet heaven from Lorenzo Coppola at Wigmore Hall

Lorenzo Coppola et al **** Wigmore Hall, 10th January 2018 The clarinet quintets by Mozart and Brahms make the perfect concert pairing. Both were late works inspired by friendships with great musicians – Anton Stadler in Mozart’s case, and Richard … Continue reading

Posted in Concert | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting to the heart of Don Alfonso: Così fan tutte revived for Glyndebourne Tour

Mozart: Così fan tutte **** Glyndebourne, 13th October 2017 I often wonder what happened to Don Alfonso to make him so cynical. In a recent programme note, conductor Philippe Jordan expounds his theory that, in the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas, … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One for sorrow: Claus Guth directs a taut, dark Clemenza di Tito at Glyndebourne

Mozart: La clemenza di Tito *** Glyndebourne, 26th July 2017 A single magpie settles on a branch beside a lake. Two boys stalk through the long reeds. The older one hands the younger, fair-haired lad a slingshot and watches as … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A rake’s progress: Mozart’s Don Giovanni let loose in Aix

Mozart: Don Giovanni ***** Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Aix-en-Provence Less than 24 hours after Stravinsky’s Rake bounded his way across the stage of the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, it was the turn of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (whose complete title is The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) to face … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belcea Quartet excels in Britten and Shostakovich at Aldeburgh Festival

Britten, Shostakovich, Mozart, Widmann **** Belcea Quartet, Jörg Widmann, Piotr Anderszewski, Snape Maltings Benjamin Britten’s spirit haunts Snape Maltings just as the ghosts of his final opera Death in Venice haunt his Third String Quartet. Resignation and isolation are etched into its … Continue reading

Posted in Concert | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment