UPDATED ONLINE NEWS! IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC
03/07/2020
Seen and Heard International hopes for the happiest of outcomes for all those who are ill due to the current coronavirus pandemic. We share the optimism of those experts who hope that all those in otherwise good health will be able to resist its worst effects.
With the worldwide restrictions on travel and gatherings of significant numbers the world of classical music and many other entertainment events are currently subjected to a wave of changes, postponements, or cancellations, and it is unlikely normal recreational life will be resumed in the foreseeable future.
Seen and Heard International will continue to post reviews of concerts, operas, dance, theatre, and broadcasts for a long as we can, but bear with us if our content is not refreshed as often as readers have become used to over recent years.
We are not a listings site so if you are checking for news of whether performances have been postponed, cancelled, or might be restarting, please go direct to the websites of the venues concerned. Read more
Live from Covent Garden showcases some impressive singers from the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme
29/06/2020
United Kingdom Various composers, Live from Covent Garden: Singers of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, Patrick Milne (harpsichord and piano), Edmund Whitehead (piano), soloists of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor). Hosted by Katie Derham, streamed live and reviewed on 27.6.2020. (JPr)
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano)
Epic, powerful, timely – National Theatre at Home’s Small Island
29/06/2020
CJ Beckford (Michael) £ Aisling Loftus (Queenie) © Brinkhoff/Moegenburg
United Kingdom National Theatre at Home – Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island: filmed live on stage at the National Theater in May 2019 and viewed on 24.6.2020. (RP)
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: despite the magnetic Alessandra Ferri, Wayne McGregor’s triptych will not be for you
28/06/2020
United Kingdom Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works – a triptych: Dancers of The Royal Ballet, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Koen Kessels (conductor). 8.2.2017 performance streamed online and reviewed on 27.6.2020. (JPr)
Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli in Tuesday © Dave Morgan
Lockdown View from the Villa takes in a magisterial Lohengrin from Netrebko, Beczala, and Thielemann
28/06/2020
Germany Wagner, Lohengrin: Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden, Sinfoniechor Dresden, Sächsische Staatskapelle / Christian Thielemann (conductor). Performance of 25.5.2016 and reviewed as a Semperoper Weekend Stream on 27.6.2020. (JPr)
Piotr Beczala and Anna Netrebko (c) Daniel Koch
‘In the dark times, there will also be singing’:Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchilda at Wigmore Hall
27/06/2020
United Kingdom Schubert: Mark Padmore (tenor), Mitsuko Uchida (piano). Review of 26.6.2020 performance live streamed from the Wigmore Hall, London (also broadcast on Radio 3). (CC)
Mark Padmore (c) Marco Borggreve
Lockdown eases in Switzerland: Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich return with reduced forces
26/06/2020
Switzerland Dukas, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich / Paavo Järvi (conductor), Tonhalle Maag, Zurich, 25.6.2020. (JR)
Paavo Järvi (c) Frederic Meyer
Rejoice with the NZSO! Live concerts return in New Zealand
26/06/2020
New Zealand Ngū Kīoro … Harikoa Ake – Celebrating Togetherness: Eliza Boom (soprano), Simon O’Neill (tenor), Maisey Rika (vocals), Horomona Horo (taonga pūoro), Wellington region school choir members, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Hamish McKeich (conductor). Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington., New Zealand. 26.6.2020. (DJB) Read more
Latest Classical Music News and Reviews
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This joyous set of Beethoven's sonatas takes its place among the very best.In its own way, the Seven Words of Christ is just as sublime as the Stabat Mater.This sensitive, dynamic recording is a joy, and may even constitute a revelation.The pair exhibits a refined style on these illuminating performances.A deeply affecting experience that ought to win the opera many new admirers.'We're dealing with constantly changing regulations,' said conductor Sakari Oramo
This joyous set of Beethoven's sonatas takes its place among the very best.
In its own way, the Seven Words of Christ is just as sublime as the Stabat Mater.
This sensitive, dynamic recording is a joy, and may even constitute a revelation.
The pair exhibits a refined style on these illuminating performances.
A deeply affecting experience that ought to win the opera many new admirers.
'We're dealing with constantly changing regulations,' said conductor Sakari Oramo
