Matthias Davids makes Wagner’s Die Meistersinger fun again at Bayreuth

GermanyGermany Bayreuth Festival 2025 [1] – Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nϋrnberg: Soloists, Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Daniele Gatti (conductor). Broadcast live (directed by Michael Beyer) from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus and available on STAGE+, 25.7.2025. (JPr)

Die Meistersinger von Nϋrnberg Act I © Enrico Nawarth/Bayreuther Festspiele

Read more

Mellow Mozart and Bruckner from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [6] – R. Wigglesworth, Mozart and Bruckner: Mariam Batsashvili (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ryan Wigglesworth (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 27.7.2025. (KW)

Pianist Mariam Batsashvili, conductor Ryan Wigglesworth and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra © BBC/Mark Allan

Read more

The 2025 Three Choirs Festival premieres Richard Blackford’s The Black Lake 

United KingdomUnited Kingdom 2025 Three Choirs Festival [2] – Pärt, Elgar, Britten, Blackford: Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Betsan Llwyd (narrator), Steffan Rhodri (narrator), Three Choirs Festival Chorus, BBC National Orchestra of Wales / David Hill (conductor). Hereford Cathedral, 27.7.2025. (JQ)

Soprano Elizabeth Watts, narrators Betsan Llwyd and Steffan Rhodri, conductor David Hill, Three Choirs Festival Chorus and BBC NOW © Dave Hodgetts

Read more

Fine revival of an important work by William Mathias at the 2025 Three Choirs Festival

United KingdomUnited Kingdom 2025 Three Choirs Festival [1] – Smyth, Dvořák, Mathias: Eleanor Dennis (soprano), James Oxley (tenor), Malachy Frame (baritone), Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Hereford Cathedral Choristers, Philharmonia Orchestra / Geraint Bowen (conductor). Hereford Cathedral, 26.7.2025. (JQ)

Geraint Bowen conducts the Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, soprano Eleanor Dennis and baritone Malachy Frame © Dale Hodgetts

Read more

SCO’s energising Beethoven, fun Rameau but the Saint-Saëns and Capperauld stood out at the Proms

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [5] – Beethoven’s Fifth: Alexandre Kantorow (piano), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor/drum). Royal Albert Hall, London, 25.7.2025. (CC)

Maxim Emelyanychev conducts pianist Alexandre Kantorow and the SCO © BBC/Mark Allan

Read more

A fine and enjoyable Prom from Sakari Oramo and the BBC SO

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [4] – Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Davis, and R. Strauss: Augustin Hadelich (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 24.7.2025. (MB)

Sakari Oromo conducts violinist Augustin Hadelich and the BBC SO in Mendelssohn © BBC/Mark Allan

Read more