United Kingdom Haydn, Brahms, Beethoven: Paul Lewis (piano), Royal Festival Hall, London, 16.10.2019. (CC)
Diabelli Variations to cherish despite Paul Lewis’s fine Brahms and chipper Haydn
Colin Clarke
CONDUCTOR HERVÉ NIQUET INTERVIEWED ABOUT GRÉTRY’S RICHARD, COEUR DE LION
Hervé Niquet discusses Grétry’s opera, Richard, Coeur de Lion with Colin Clarke
Opéra Versailles’s production of Grétry’s Richard, Coeur de Lion recently was a great success (review click here). The morning after the first performance of the run, I meet Hervé Niquet in an achingly cool hotel in Versailles. Open and friendly, he is an interviewer’s dream.
Admirable musical performances but an effortful new Don Pasquale production at Covent Garden
United Kingdom Donizetti, Don Pasquale: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Evelino Pidò (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 14.10.2019. (CC)
Opéra Royal de Versailles’ revival of Grétry’s Richard Coeur de Lion is an unmissable and revelatory experience
France Grétry, Richard Coeur de Lion: Soloists, Ballet of Opéra Royal, Versailles; Chorus and Orchestra of Le Concert Spirituel / Hervé Niquet (conductor). Opéra Royal de Versailles, France, 10.10.2019. (CC)
Much to admire in ENOs staging of Orpheus and Eurydice
United Kingdom Gluck, Orpheus and Eurydice (1774, Berlioz edition: sung in English): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera / Harry Bicket (conductor). London Coliseum, 1.10.2019. (CC)
Jonathan Biss begins his odyssey through the Beethoven sonatas at Wigmore Hall
United Kingdom Beethoven, Piano Sonatas I: Jonathan Biss (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 29.9.2019. (CC)
For all of its cleverness, Barry’s The Intelligence Park leaves one unsatisfied
United Kingdom Gerald Barry, The Intelligence Park: Soloists, London Sinfonietta / Jessica Cottis (conductor). The Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London, 28.9.2019. (CC)
A triumphant London debut for the Britten-Shostakovich Festival Orchestra
United Kingdom Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninov, Britten, Shostakovich: Pavel Kolesnikov (piano), Edward and Freddie Fox (narrators), Britten-Shostakovich Festival Orchestra / Jan Latham-Koenig (conductor). Cadogan Hall, London, 26.9.2019. (CC)
