Festivals

Wexford Festival Opera makes a strong case for Stanford’s The Critic

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IrelandIreland Wexford Festival Opera 2024 [2] – Stanford, The Critic: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Wexford National Opera / Ciarán McAuley (conductor), O’Reilly Theatre Wexford, 24.10.2024. (RB)

[l-r] Arthur Riordan (Mr Sneer), Mark Lambert (Mr Puff), Hannah O’Brien in The Critic © Patricio Cassinoni

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Sandbox Percussion light up Beijing’s Forbidden City with an electrifying quartet by Andy Akiho

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ChinaChina Beijing Music Festival – Andy Akiho, Seven Pillars: Sandbox Percussion: Ian Rosenbaum, Jonny Allen, Terry Sweeney, Victor Caccese. Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, 11.10.2024. (TS)

Sandbox Percussion’s Seven Pillars © Beijing Music Festival

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Fine Wexford Festival Opera cast for Mascagni’s Le maschere, but the opera itself is unconvincing

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IrelandIreland Wexford Opera Festival 2024 [1] – Mascagni, Le maschere: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Wexford Festival Opera / Francesco Cilluffo (conductor). O’Reilly Theatre, Wexford, 23.10.2024 (RB)

Ioana Constantin Pipelea (Colombina), Gillen Munguia (Brighella), Andrew Morstein (Florindo), and Lavinia Bini (Rosaura) in WFO’s Le maschere © Patricio Cassinoni

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The Corvedale Festival 2024’s unforgettable final weekend

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Corvedale Festival 2024 [3] – Opera Gala: Oksana Lepska (soprano), Samantha Lewis (mezzo-soprano), James Beddoe (tenor), Sam Young (baritone), Alex Postlethwaite, David Joyce (violins), Jane Park (viola), Ruth Henley (cello), Elizabeth Jones (double bass), Anna Kondrashina (flute), Damla Tuncer (oboe), Emily Newman (bassoon), Stien de Neef (harp), Bedwyn Lloyd Phillips (conductor). St Michael’s Church, Munslow, 27.9.2024. (CK)

Verdi’s Brindisi – [l-r] James Beddoe (tenor), Sam Young (baritone), Samantha Lewis (mezzo-soprano), and Oksana Lepska (soprano)

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A diverse and rewarding bill of fare at the ongoing Corvedale Festival

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Corvedale Festival 2024 [2] – Various: Edge Chamber Choir (director: Ros Crouch), Joely Koos (cello), Wind players from Chetham’s School of Music (principal: Tom Redmond), Anna Kondrashina (flute). Corvedale Churches, 22 to 26.9.2024. (CK)

Edge Chamber Choir

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Superlative music-making at the Corvedale Festival

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Corvedale Festival 2024 [1] – Various: Jarualda Quartet: (Alex Postlethwaite, David Joyce [violins], Jane Park [viola], Ruth Henley [cello]), Roelof Temmingh (piano); Magdalenna Krstevska (clarinet), Hamish Brown (piano), Cristian de Sá (violin), John Lenehan (piano). St. Michael’s Church, Munslow & St. Peter’s Church, Diddlebury, 20 & 21.9.2024. (CK)

Jarualda Quartet are the Corvedale Festival’s Artists-in-Residence

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Last Night of the Proms 2024: an evening of questionable programming and uneven quality

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom PROM 73 – Last Night of the Proms: Angel Blue (soprano), Sir Stephen Hough (piano), BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, BBC Singers, (Neil Ferris (chorus/choir master) / Sakari Oramo (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London 14.9.2024. (CSa)

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