• In my end is my beginning: Dmitri Tcherniakov directs Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto & Ulrich Rasch directs Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the 2025 Salzburg Festival

    Updated: 2025-01-17 13:40:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 17 January 2025 In my end is my beginning : Dmitri Tcherniakov directs Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto Ulrich Rasch directs Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the 2025 Salzburg Festival Labels : preview Salzburg Salzburg Hofstallgasse at Night Photo : TSG Breitegger For Markus Hinterhäuser , artistic director of the Salzburg Festival , the main theme of the 2025 Festival 18 July to 31 August 2025 can be summed up in Mary , Queen of Scot's motto in my end is my beginning' . But for all Hinterhäuser's admirably coherent programming , 2025 is likely to be the year that Dmitri Tcherniakov directed Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto and Ulrich Rasch directed

  • A glorious, yet sophisticated noise: Handel's Solomon from Paul McCreesh & Gabrieli with Tim Mead as Solomon in Inner Temple Hall

    Updated: 2025-01-17 00:43:00
    : , : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 17 January 2025 A glorious , yet sophisticated noise : Handel's Solomon from Paul McCreesh Gabrieli with Tim Mead as Solomon in Inner Temple Hall Labels : concert review Handel Temple Music Inner Temple Hall in its modern incarnation built in the 1950s Handel : Solomon Tim Mead , Rowan Pierce , Hilary Cronin , Frances Gregory , Anna Dennis , James Way , Morgan Pearse , Gabrieli Consort Players , Paul McCreesh Temple Music Foundation at Inner Temple Hall Reviewed 16 January 2025 One of Handel's finest oratorios in almost perfect circumstances , glorious choral singing , fine orchestral playing , superb dramatic pacing and seven soloists who drew you

  • A highly effective synthesis: James Joyce's The Dead in a dramatised reading from Niamh Cusack with music from The Fourth Choir that underscored the emotional drama

    Updated: 2025-01-16 08:43:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Thursday , 16 January 2025 A highly effective synthesis : James Joyce's The Dead in a dramatised reading from Niamh Cusack with music from The Fourth Choir that underscored the emotional drama Labels : concert review music theatre review The Dead Niamh Cusack , The Fourth Choir , Jamie Powe Wilton's Music Hall Photo : Kathleen Holman The Dead James Joyce , Sarah MacDonald , Rhona Clarke , Robert Parsons , Bellini , Aine Mallon , Joanna Marsh , Samuel Barber , Healey Willan , Bo Holten Niamh Cusack , The Fourth Choir , Jamie Powe , Seamus Rea Wilton's Music Hall Reviewed 14 January 2025 The slightly unlikely combination of Joyce's masterly long short-story and

  • Calling aspiring composers: ORA Singers 2025 Graduate and Young Composers schemes open

    Updated: 2025-01-14 09:58:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 14 January 2025 Calling aspiring composers : ORA Singers 2025 Graduate and Young Composers schemes open Labels : music education Suzi Digby at ORA Singers' Graduate Composer scheme ORA Singers is looking for young composers as their 2025 Graduate Composers scheme and their 2025 Young Composers scheme are both open for . applications The 2025 Graduate Composers scheme is designed to kick-start the careers of young professionals , offering the chance for five Graduate Composers to become professionally commissioned by ORA Singers . nbsp Each Graduate Composer will receive a commission fee of 1,000.00 to write a new short piece which ORA Singers will

  • Creating a personal world: Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work alongside contemporary pieces by inti figgis-vizueta and Ying Wang

    Updated: 2025-01-14 09:33:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 14 January 2025 Creating a personal world : Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work alongside contemporary pieces by inti figgis-vizueta and Ying Wang Labels : record review Lauter Ethel Smyth , nbsp inti figgis-vizueta Ying Wang ensemble reflektor , Holly Hyun Choe Solaire Records Reviewed 14 January 2025 Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work alongside contemporary pieces by inti figgis-vizueta and Ying Wang in an intriguing programme that brings a sense of contrast , of creating . worlds Lauter from ensemble reflektor on Solaire records combines two contemporary female composers with an early work by a female composer in the historical canon .

  • An alternative Valentine, a Welsh songbook and celebrating 10 years of Creative Minds in Song: Song in the City's 2025 season begins

    Updated: 2025-01-13 08:58:00
    : , : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 13 January 2025 An alternative Valentine , a Welsh songbook and celebrating 10 years of Creative Minds in Song : Song in the City's 2025 season begins Labels : preview Song in the City's Creative Minds in Song Song in the City is an artist-led charity directed by Gavin Roberts and Rebecca Cohen that aims to take classical music out of its comfort zone , nbsp using the talents of professional classical musicians to respond to the world around us , whilst challenging our artists and audiences in creative . ways Their 2025 season gets off to a lively start with a trio of concerts at St Giles Cripplegate . First off is Reclaiming Love : An Alternative

  • The complete Walton songs: there aren't that many but Siân Dicker, Kyrstal Tunnicliffe, Saki Kato certainly make us understand why they are all worthy of attention

    Updated: 2025-01-13 07:35:00
    : : , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 13 January 2025 The complete Walton songs : there aren't that many but Siân Dicker , Kyrstal Tunnicliffe , Saki Kato certainly make us understand why they are all worthy of attention Labels : record review William : Walton Complete Song Collection Siân Dicker , Krystal Tunnicliffe , Saki Kato DELPHIAN Reviewed 12 January 2025 Shedding a light on Walton's small but valuable song output from remarkable early songs to the late masterpieces , all performed with love , attention and often lyrical exuberance William Walton wrote music in a wide variety of genres and whilst his orchestral and film music might stand top dead centre in his output , the

  • The idea of Greece: Robin Tritschler and Jonathan Ware in a wide-ranging recital from Schubert, Loewe & Wolf to Shostakovich, Dvorak, Berkeley & Ravel

    Updated: 2025-01-11 11:17:00
    : : , , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Saturday , 11 January 2025 The idea of Greece : Robin Tritschler and Jonathan Ware in a wide-ranging recital from Schubert , Loewe Wolf to Shostakovich , Dvorak , Berkeley Ravel Labels : concert review Wigmore Hall Photo : Antonio Beato , 19th century Brooklyn Museum Greek Songs Schubert , Loewe , Wolf , Conradin Kreutzer , Ludwig Berger , Shostakovich , Dvorak , Lennox Berkeley , Ravel : Robin Tritschler , Jonathan Ware Wigmore Hall Reviewed 8 January 2025 Composers different ideas of Greece from Schubert's experimental , architectural songs , to Shostakovich's workers songs and Ravel's French-influenced folk songs , along with some rather rare Dvorak

  • Continuo Foundation opens applications for funding for round 9!

    Updated: 2025-01-10 17:11:00
    : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 10 January 2025 Continuo Foundation opens applications for funding for round 9 Labels : music news Handel : Messiah Manchester Baroque at Manchester Cathedral in December 2024 Photo : Tom Bowles Continuo Foundation is inviting applications for funding early music concerts , tours and other projects taking place between May and October 2025, anywhere in the UK . As in previous rounds , the funding available in this ninth grant round amounts to 100,000. Since its inception , the Foundation has awarded 850,000 to 100 UK period-instrument ensembles , including 29 emerging groups , formed since 2020. The 200 projects supported so far have benefited over 1,000

  • precept.concept.percept XII - open call for composers and performers for residency run by Slovenian .abeceda [new music ensemble]

    Updated: 2025-01-10 16:54:00
    : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 10 January 2025 precept.concept.percept XII open call for composers and performers for residency run by Slovenian abeceda new music ensemble Labels : music news There is an open call for composers and performers for a residency programme for 2025. The precept.concept.percept residency focuses on a collaborative creative process where performers and composers work closely together to prepare for a performance at the fifth abeceda Contemporary Music Festival Bled , Slovenia , EU Composers present , optimize , theorize , and develop new works , while performers form an ensemble to refine their practice and premiere these . compositions This represents a

  • Uprising! Director Sinéad O’Neill on Glyndebourne's new community opera written by Jonathan Dove and April De Angelis

    Updated: 2025-01-08 14:26:00
    : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 8 January 2025 Uprising Director Sinéad O’Neill on Glyndebourne's new community opera written by Jonathan Dove and April De Angelis Labels : Glyndebourne preview Can one person make a difference Horrified by the climate crisis , teenager Lola decides that she must fight for the future . Composer Jonathan Dove and writer April De Angelis' new opera looks at the state of the world through the eyes of the young . nbsp The work is premiered at Glyndebourne opening on 28 February , featuring a cast of professionals including Ffion Edwards who recently sang the title role in Rimsky Korsakov's The Snow Maiden with English Touring Opera , see my interview

  • Our December newsletter has arrived: songs by Robert Kahn and Thomas Pitfield, new youth opera and Pieces that Disappear

    Updated: 2025-01-08 08:35:00
    : : , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 8 January 2025 Our December newsletter has arrived : songs by Robert Kahn and Thomas Pitfield , new youth opera and Pieces that Disappear The Cast of ENO’s The Pirates of Penzance 2024 Craig Fuller In case you missed it online , our December newsletter has arrived , a handy digest of the month's reviews . December was a month when we moved from Gilbert Sullivan to Christmas celebrations both well-known and lesser known . Interviews this month include baritone Benjamin Appl on his three new discs from Christmas in Regensburg to György Kurtág , composer Nathan Williamson on his new opera for London Youth Opera , and composer Stephen Goss on his

  • Idomeneo in Amsterdam: Lawrence Cummings joins forces with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for a new production of Mozart's first mature opera

    Updated: 2025-01-07 11:32:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 7 January 2025 Idomeneo in Amsterdam : Lawrence Cummings joins forces with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for a new production of Mozart's first mature opera Labels : Netherlands preview Mozart's Idomeneo is regarded as his first mature opera , written for Munich in 1781. The subject may not have been Mozart's choice but it represents the composers continuing engagement with Italian opera seria a style that had dominated his operatic output in his teenage years . Mozart continued his engagement with this style , though his three mature operas with Lorenzo da Ponte represent a new direction , yet in 1791 he would return to opera seria for his late masterpiece ,

  • Drawing us in: baritone James Atkinson makes his Wigmore Hall debut with pianist Iain Burnside in a programme moving from Robert to Clara Schumann to Brahms' late tombeau for Clara

    Updated: 2025-01-07 10:41:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 7 January 2025 Drawing us in : baritone James Atkinson makes his Wigmore Hall debut with pianist Iain Burnside in a programme moving from Robert to Clara Schumann to Brahms' late tombeau for Clara Labels : concert review Wigmore Hall Robert and Clara Schumann Schumann : Eichendorff Liederkreis Clara Schumann : Gedichte aus Rückerts Liebesfrühling Brahms : Four Serious Songs James Atkinson , Iain Burnside Wigmore Hall Reviewed 6 January 2025 Young baritone James Atkinson used his rich , dark hued voice in a manner that really drew us in , not over-demonstrative yet rich in subtlety , in a programme that moved from Robert to Clara Schumann to Brahms'

  • A significant link between Gounod's Faust & Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, Saint-Saens's Le timbre d'argent gets a rare UK outing revived by New Sussex Opera

    Updated: 2025-01-06 10:17:00
    : , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 6 January 2025 A significant link between Gounod's Faust Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann , Saint-Saens's Le timbre d'argent gets a rare UK outing revived by New Sussex Opera Labels : preview Offenbach : La princesse de Trébizonde Anthony Flaum , Meriel Cunningham New Sussex Opera in 2021 Photo Colin Chapman Under Léon Carvalho , the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris had something of a miracle period in the 1860s . In 1859 it produced the original version of Gounod's Faust with spoken dialogue going on to then produce Gounod's Roméo et Juliette and Mireille Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth and Berlioz's Les Troyens à Carthage as well

  • Don Giovanni, Dido and two Handel operas: Ensemble OrQuesta's new season

    Updated: 2025-01-06 08:57:00
    : , : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 6 January 2025 Don Giovanni , Dido and two Handel operas : Ensemble OrQuesta's new season Labels : preview Mozart : Le nozze di Figaro Rosemary Carlton-Willis , Marcio da Silva , Joshua Furtado-Mendes Ensemble OrQesta at Arcola Theatre's Grimeborn Festival , 2024 Ensemble OrQuesta , artistic director Marcio da Silva , whom we last heard at the Grimeborn Festival in 2024 in Mozart's Le nozze di , Figaro with Marcio da Silva both directing and playing Figaro see my review has announced its 2025 . season In March , Marcio da Silva will be directing a provocative and thought-provoking' version of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Cockpit Theatre with Oshri

  • We Are! In support of Ukraine

    Updated: 2025-01-06 08:33:00
    : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 6 January 2025 We Are In support of Ukraine Labels : preview Violinist Roman Mints is the artistic director of WE ARE Concert in Support of Ukraine a night of music and solidarity to support Ukraine on Sunday 26 January 2025 at St John's Church , Waterloo . The event will feature oboist Nicholas Daniel OBE , violinist Dmytro Udovychenko , conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk , pianist Sasha Grynyuk , flautist Karen Wong , and Roman Mints along with Another Chamber . Orchestra The programme features Malcom Arnold's Variations on a Ukrainian Theme and his Concerto for two violins and string orchestra alongside music by Ukrainian composers including Yevhen

  • As we wish everyone a Happy New Year, it is a time to look back at 2024 and celebrate

    Updated: 2025-01-01 09:52:00
    : , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 1 January 2025 As we wish everyone a Happy New Year , it is a time to look back at 2024 and celebrate Ben Goldscheider Gavin Higgins at the London premiere of Gavin Higgins' Horn Concerto with London Chamber Orchestra Photo : Jerome Weatherald 2024 saw us writing 545 articles , from William Christie and Les Arts Florissants celebrating New Year's Eve 2023 in style to my review of two discs of retellings of the Christmas story from Gabriel Jackson and Edward Nesbitt . There were just on 80 concert reviews and 53 opera reviews with everything from Lampe's The Dragon of Wantley to Bizet's Carmen at the BBC Proms . There was new opera by Stephen McNeff

  • 2024 in record reviews: white-hot prophets, sensitive souls, a German in Venice, Holst's organ and the 20th century brass band

    Updated: 2024-12-31 10:42:00
    : : , , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 31 December 2024 2024 in record reviews : white-hot prophets , sensitive souls , a German in Venice , Holst's organ and the 20th century brass band Labels : cd review Early and late feature heavily in this year's selection , but in the middle a pair of individual performances stand out . The white-hot dramatic impetus of John Osborn's account of the title role in Meyerbeer's Le prophète in a performance from Mark Elder and the LSO that really capture's the work's drama , and a rediscovery of the original orchestral sound of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius from Gabrieli and Paul McCreesh , with a sensitive account of the title role from Nicky .

  • 2024: A year in concert reviews, astonishing youth, late-romantic rarities, riveting symphonic theatre

    Updated: 2024-12-30 08:25:00
    : : , , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 30 December 2024 2024 : A year in concert reviews , astonishing youth , late-romantic rarities , riveting symphonic theatre Labels : concert review Janine Jansen , Martha Argerich , Mischa Maisky Le Piano Symphonique , Lucerne Photo : Philipp Schmidli , Luzerner Sinfonieorchester Baroque music featured highly this year , Lawrence Cummings and the AAM used just eight singers for their moving version of Bach's St Matthew Passion and equally life-enhancing was Bach's Brandenburg Concertos from the OAE . We heard Handel's original version of Esther from Solomon's Knot , who also popped up in Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 one of a pair of contrasting

  • 2024: A year in opera reviews, strong individual performances, reinventing classics and historically informed Wagner

    Updated: 2024-12-29 10:27:00
    : : , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Sunday , 29 December 2024 2024 : A year in opera reviews , strong individual performances , reinventing classics and historically informed Wagner Labels : opera review Britten : Death in Venice Antony César Tadzio Frederico Saggese Jaschiu Welsh National Opera Photo Johann Persson It was one of those evenings about which you can say I was there' , Wagner's Die Walküre at Dresden Music Festival as their historically informed Ring Cycle unfolds . And there was something astonishing about Olivia Fuchs' new production of Britten's Death in Venice for Welsh National Opera , too with its combination of theatrical and circus . arts Strong individual performances

  • Season's Greetings from all at Planet Hugill

    Updated: 2024-12-24 14:51:00
    : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 24 December 2024 Season's Greetings from all at Planet Hugill Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Robert and all at Planet Hugill Posted by Planet Hugill at Tuesday , December 24, 2024 Email This BlogThis Share to X Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest No : comments Post a Comment Newer Post Older Post Home Subscribe to : Post Comments Atom Popular Posts this month A glorious , yet sophisticated noise : Handel's Solomon from Paul McCreesh Gabrieli with Tim Mead as Solomon in Inner Temple Hall Inner Temple Hall in its modern incarnation built in the 1950s Handel : Solomon Tim Mead , Rowan Pierce , Hilary Cronin , Frances Gregory , Anna . What about

  • Modern aspects of the Christmas story: Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story and Edward Nesbit's Nativity

    Updated: 2024-12-24 00:46:00
    : : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 24 December 2024 Modern aspects of the Christmas story : Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story and Edward Nesbit's Nativity Labels : cd review Gabriel Jackson : The Christmas Story Choir of Merton College , Oxford , The Girl Choristers of Merton College , Oxford , Owen Chan Francois Cloete organ Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia , Benjamin Nicholas conductor DELPHIAN Edward Nesbit : Nativity Wycliffe Carols Metaphysical Songs Four Christmas Lyrics The Choir of King's College , London , Angharad Lyddon mezzo-soprano Benedict Nelson baritone Anneke Hodnett harp Martin Owen horn Joseph Fort conductor DELPHIAN Reviewed 24 December 2024 Two very different but

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