One of the oldest-established festivals in the UK, the Norfolk & Norwich comes round in the merry month of May.
Updated: 2024-02-29 07:43:00
: , . Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Thursday 29 February 2024 One of the oldest-established festivals in the UK , the Norfolk Norwich comes round in the merry month of May . Labels : by Tony Cooper Norfolk preview The giant puppet from L’Homme Debout’s Mo and The Red Ribbon which will roam the streets of Norwich One of the oldest-established festivals in the UK , the Norfolk Norwich running for an astonishing 17 days in the merry month of May from Friday 10th to Sunday 26th offers a cultural package like no other taking in music , drama , literature , circus , outdoor and family events as well as the all-important visual arts . nbsp Artists from round the world and across the region will gather
: , : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Thursday 29 February 2024 Music that is vividly alive vibrant , yet requires concentration dedication to listen to : Anselm McDonnell's Kraina Labels : record review Anselm McDonnell : Kraina Joshua Ellicott , Laura Sinnerton , Dermot Dunne , Rebecca Murphy , Cahal Masterson , Elizabeth Hilliard , Alan Smale , nbsp Annette Cleary , Rachel Quinn , Nicole Rourke , Dermot Dunne Reviewed 26 February 2024 New music for voice and instruments tackling the complex and the difficult , creating music that is more than just a song , and pushing performers to emotional and expressive . limits Kraina is a word in Old Polish meaning edge , borderland , or frontier .
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 28 February 2024 A playful look at mathematics : Keisha Thompson's DeCipher project wins the fifth Opera North University of Leeds DARE Art Prize Labels : music news Keisha Thompson Photo : Elmi Ali Manchester-based writer , performer , producer and maths educator Keisha Thompson has been announced as the fifth winner of the annual DARE Art Prize DARE is a partnership between the University of Leeds and Opera North and in association with the National Science and Media Museum and The Tetley , Leeds , and the prize challenges artists and scientists to collaborate on new approaches to the creative . process Keisha Thompson’s project DeCipher takes a
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 28 February 2024 Beauty and meaning : Handel's Theodora from Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo with Louise Alder in the title role Labels : cd review Handel Handel : Theodora Louise Alder , Tim Mead , Anna Stéphany , Stuart Jackson , Adam Plachetka , Arcangelo , Jonathan Cohen Alpha Classics Reviewed 20 February 2024 A performance of Handel's late masterpiece that combines musical beauties with a sense of the inner meaning of the words , with a wonderful central performance from Louise Alder Considering that Handel evidently regarded it as one of his favourite oratorios and that any performance of it is something of an event , Handel's Theodora has rather
: : , Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 27 February 2024 Der fliegende Holländer : Persona Arts , a new BME-led West Midlands based arts company staging Wagner's opera in Birmingham Labels : Birmingham preview Persona Arts , a new Birmingham-based opera company , is starting big , staging Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer in German in July . Persona Arts is a BME-led West Midlands based arts company that aims to stage the opera and choral arts to the highest possible . standards The artistic director is Byron Jackson , a Birmingham-born baritone off Jamaican heritage . He aims to use Persona Arts to promote the cause of opera within local communities and contribute to breaking down barriers -DavidMonteith-Hodge-ASNTTM1-(DMH_5790).jpg)
: , : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 27 February 2024 Intense and disturbing , a story without any redemption : Stephen McNeff's new opera A Star Next to the Moon based on Juan Rulfo's novel Pedro Páramo Labels : GSMD opera review Stephen McNeff : A Star Next to the Moon Jacob Harrison Pedro Páramo Guildhall School of Music Drama Photo : David Monteith-Hodge Stephen McNeff : A Star Next to the Moon director : Martin Lloyd-Evans , conductor : Dominic Wheeler Guildhall School of Music Drama Reviewed 26 February 2024 Stephen McNeff's powerful new opera tells a disturbing story with a performance that pulls no punches and outstanding contributions from the young cast Stephen McNeff s opera ,
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 26 February 2024 Beyond coloratura : Strong performances and a serious approach in Chelsea Opera Group's account of Léo Delibes' Lakmé Labels : opera review Poster for the première of Léo Delibes' Lakmé Léo Delibes : nbsp Lakmé Haegee Lee , Elgan Llŷr Thomas , James Platt , Julien Van Mellaerts , Lorena Paz Nieto , Caroline Carragher , Sarah Pring , Polly Leech , Magnus Walker , Chelsea Opera Group , Matthew Scott Rogers Cadogan Hall Reviewed 25 February 2024 Strong performances and a serious approach to the music ensure that the pleasures of this performance of Delibes' rarity extended well beyond coloratura delights Léo Delibes' Lakmé received a rare
: , Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 26 February 2024 Marking the centenary of Puccini's death , Opera Holland Park in his early Messa di Gloria Labels : concert review Opera Holland Park Chorus of Opera Holland Park , the City of London Sinfonia , conductor John Andrews with soloists David Butt Philip and Ross Ramgobin Photo : Opera Holland Park Puccini : songs arias , Messa di Gloria Eleanor Broomfield , Fflur Wyn , Philip Costovski , Joseph Buckmaster , José de Eça , David Butt Philip , Ross Ramgobin , Chorus of Opera Holland Park , City of London Sinfonia , John Andrews Holy Trinity Church , Sloane Street Reviewed 22 February 2024 Opera Holland Park launches its Puccini celebration
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Saturday 24 February 2024 The Lady of Satis House : composer Jacques Cohen talks about finally bringing his 2012 Charles Dickens-inspired monodrama to disc Labels : interview Jacques Cohen : The Lady of Satis House Marie Vassiliou at Tete-a-Tete : The Opera Festival in 2012 Photo : Claire Shovelton Jacques Cohen s operatic monodrama The Lady of Satis House premiered in 2012. A commission from Bill Bankes-Jones Tete-a-Tete The Opera Festival , it was directed by Joe Austin designed by Emily Harwood and performed by soprano Marie Vassiliou and the Piatti Quartet 2012 was also the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth and faced with writing the opera in six weeks 
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 23 February 2024 Vivid intensity and profound expressivity : Vox Luminis explores the world of the 17th century Italian Stabat Mater at Wigmore Hall Labels : concert review Wigmore Hall Domenico Scarlatti painted in 1738 by Domingo Antonio Velasco Stabat : Mater Lotti , Monteverdi , Domenico Mazzocchi , Alessandro Della Ciaia , Domenico Scarlatti Vox Luminis Wigmore Hall Reviewed 21 February 2024 An imaginative programme that moved from an anonymous 13th century solo lai to the ten voices of Scarlatti's Stabat Mater each work rendered with vivid intensity and profound expressivity The vocal ensemble Vox Luminis returned to Wigmore Hall on Wednesday 21.jpg)
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 23 February 2024 Being performed for the first time for almost 20 years : Murray Hipkin the North London Chorus give us a chance to finally experience Ethel Smyth's The Prison in concert Labels : preview Whilst the last few decades have seen a remarkable increase in the amount of exploration of neglected 19th and 20th century British music , there has still been a tendency to view individual composers through quite a narrow lens . So , Stanford's most popular opera during his lifetime , Shamus O'Brien is only now getting its first studio recording , whilst Parry's oratorios , highly popular and influential in their day , have similarly only recently
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Thursday 22 February 2024 Cinderella in the gas works : Royal Birmingham Conservatoire's site-specific production of Massenet's opera Labels : Birmingham preview Jonathan Dove : The Enchanted Pig Royal Birmingham Conservatoire , 2023 Photo Greg Milner On Monday 29 February 2024, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire debuts its Spring opera production , Massenet's Cendrillon at Gas Street Central in Birmingham . The production involves a collaboration between the London College of Fashion and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with a cast of students from the conservatoire's Vocal Operatic Studies Department plus a team of student set-designers , language coaches ,
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 21 February 2024 Pink Floyd by candle-light played by a classical string orchestra : welcome to the world of the Yorkshire-based Paradox Orchestra Labels : preview The Paradox Orchestra at Leeds Minster The Paradox Orchestra is a dynamic young Yorkshire-based ensemble of classically-trained musicians , many of whom trained at the Leeds Conservatoire , whose performances vibrantly reimagine rock , pop , and dance classics , with the aim of re-energising classical music , supporting classically trained musicians , and bring music to new . audiences The orchestra has just launched a tour of Pink Floyd hits , with a candle-lit 25-strong string orchestra
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 21 February 2024 On an Endless Road : Itō Noe and the Women Composers of Her Time Labels : preview Itō Noe Itō Noe 1895-1923 was a Japanese writer and feminist anarchist who was killed by Japanese state forces when she was just 28. A new song cycle by British composer Francesca Le Lohé celebrates the brief life of this brave and radical woman . nbsp The song cycle has been written for Japanese singer and biwa player Akiko Kubota who makes her UK debut on a tour from 5 to 9 March 2024 for International Women's Day with concerts in London 5 3 2024 Huddersfield 7 3 2024 Manchester 8 3 2024 and Leeds 9 3 2024 Kubota's programme , On an Endless Road : Itō
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 21 February 2024 Revealing a remarkable talent : Solomon's Knot explore the Sacred Songs and Anthems of 17th century composer George Jeffreys Labels : cd review George Jeffreys : Sacred Songs and Anthems Solomon's Knot , Josep Maria Marti Duran , William Whitehead Prospero Reviewed 19 February 2024 The almost forgotten 17th-century English composer George Jeffreys is revealed as a remarkable talent , writing Italian influenced-music in the depths of darkest Northamptonshire during the Civil War , vividly brought to life by Solomon's Knot The name of the composer George Jeffreys is not well known and it is perhaps fatally easy to assume that his.jpg)
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 20 February 2024 From Harald en Italie to Le prophète in New York : 2024 Bard Summerscape focuses on Berlioz and his world Labels : preview Fisher Center at Bard College Photo : Peter Aaron 68 Esto The Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in the Hudson Valley , New York City , presents an annual Summerscape festival and this year there are eight weeks of opera , theatre , dance and a music festival from 20 June to 18 August 2024. The theme of the music festival is Berlioz and His World . Alongside wide-ranging concerts of music by Berlioz and his contemporaries , there is a rare staging of Meyerbeer's Le prophète 26.jpg)
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 20 February 2024 La voix humaine : two different productions bring Poulenc's intimate drama to London Labels : preview For those seeking to bring opera to more intimate spaces , Poulenc's La voix humaine would seem ideal both in terms of length and performing forces . A single , female protagonist , a single setting and a length of around 45 minutes . In fact , it seems to cry out for that intimate space as Poulenc and Cocteau's protagonist gets remarkably confiding . nbsp But though it has developed quite a currency over the last decade or so , Poulenc was not fond on the version of the opera with piano accompaniment and for him , the piece needed a
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 20 February 2024 Knowing no boundaries : on Circus Dinograd contemporary period performers move between styles genres without embarrassment Labels : record review Circus Dinograd traditional , Jean-Luc Ponty , Purcell , Ravel , Jarmo Ramponen , David Faber , Hilary Summers , Maarten Ornstein , Mike Fentross , Marie-Louise de Jong , Marleen Wester , Judith van Driel , Byrd , John Dowland Hilary Summers , Maarten Ornstein , Mike Fentross , Dudok Quartet Amsterdam Zefir Records Reviewed 14 February 2024 Sui generis a disc that moves between genre and style without embarrassment as the ensemble of contemporary and period performers cross from the historical
: : , , , , . Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 19 February 2024 In Relations : exploring links from Meyerbeer , to Loewe , to Mendelssohn , to Schumann , to Emilie Mayer and Frances Allitsen . Labels : cd review In Relations : Meyerbeer , Loewe , Mendelssohn , Schumann , Emilie Mayer , Frances Allitsen Eva Zalenga , Doriana Tchakarova hänssler CLASSIC Reviewed 13 February 2024 An engaging recital with an intelligent programme that explores the complex web that linked composers and poets , male and female during the 19th century In Relations from hänssler CLASSIC features soprano Eva Zalenga and pianist Doriana Tchakarova in a programme that moves from Meyerbeer , to Loewe , to Mendelssohn ,
: : , Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Saturday 17 February 2024 Mythical Creatures : I chat to Polish-born , Australian composer Paul Kopetz about the recent disc of his music Labels : interview Composer Paul Kopetz s album , Mythical Creatures was released on Navona Records in October 2023. Based around Paul's song cycle of the same name , the disc features settings of poems by Svyetlana Hadgraft set for voice , piano , wind quintet and . percussion Born in Poland and now living in Australia , Paul is a multi-instrumentalist and composer . He received his early musical education in Poland before studying at The University of Melbourne Victorian College of the Arts Rotterdam Conservatorium and
: , Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 16 February 2024 As Puccini's Manon Lescaut opens English Touring Opera's Spring tour , I chat to soprano Jenny Stafford who sings the title role in Jude Christian's new production Labels : ETO preview Photo by soprano Julia Mariko before the sitzprobe for ETO's production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut via Twitter English Touring Opera's Spring 2024 season opens at the Hackney Empire on 24 February 2024 with Puccini's Manon Lescaut followed by Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress on 2 March , and the tour continues across England until 28 May . The tour also features a new family opera by Omar Shahryar and Hannah Khalil , The Great Stink The new production of
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 16 February 2024 Olawale Olayinka : Songs My Mother Taught Me Labels : cd review spotlight Olawale Olayinka is a young Nigerian classically trained violinist , currently based in London . If you have seen Brixton Chamber Orchestra or Chineke then you may well have seen him . His performances with Chineke include appearances last Summer performing Beethoven , Holst , Vaughan Williams' and Coleridge-Taylor , conducted by Kellen Gray , as well as with the orchestra at the 2023 Brit Awards at the O2 performing with . Stormzy Olayinka has just released a self-produced EP entitled Songs My Mother Taught Me six tracks in which he plays traditional songs in