Alexandra Coghlan
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
đ€ 1695
đ„ 557
đ 89
Classical music journalist. Author, Carols From King's, Ebury, 2016.
reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
Bernard Hughes
3 days ago
I too have read this book for review. V interesting to see
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
âs take on it - lots we agree on. My review out on
@theartsdesk.bsky.social
shortly
add a skeleton here at some point
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Robin Holloway's Music's Odyssey is certainly an epic. I took the journey and lived to tell the tale @spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/robi...
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Robin Holloway lambasts some of our most beloved composers
Irreverent, outspoken and unfailingly opinionated, with knowledge as broad as his vocabulary, Robin Holloway is exactly the person youâd want to sit next to at a concert. The warmest of interval chard...
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/robin-holloway-lambasts-some-of-our-most-beloved-composers/
3 days ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
theartsdesk.com
4 days ago
'Much more fun than a Classical biopera might sound' â â â â GIUSTINO
#LinburyTheatre
@royaloperahouse.bsky.social
- Gods, mortals and monsters do battle in
#Handel's
charming drama -
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
enjoys a stylish account of a slight opera
theartsdesk.com/opera/giusti...
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Giustino, Linbury Theatre review - a stylish account of a slight opera
Itâs a good year to be Handel-lover. No sooner have summer runs of Rodelinda (Garsington) and Saul (Glyndebourne) finished than weâre into autumn and Opera Northâs Susanna, Giustino at the Royal Opera...
https://theartsdesk.com/opera/giustino-linbury-theatre-review-stylish-account-slight-opera
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Tenderness and intimacy from
@etopera.bsky.social
new Rape of Lucretia:
www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-...
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The Rape of Lucretia: intimate and tender
Read our review of The Rape of Lucretia: Robin Norton-Haleâs new production for English Touring Opera pulls the audience close
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-rape-of-lucretia-review-english-touring-opera
5 days ago
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"A fascinating experiment" - review of Bushra El-Turk's Oum: A Son's Quest for his Mother
@thestage.co.uk
www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/oum-...
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Oum â A Sonâs Quest for His Mother review at the Barbican Hall: Engrossing
Read our review of Oum â A Sonâs Quest for His Mother at London's Barbican Hall. Bushra El-Turk and Wout van Tongerenâs opera is never less than engrossing
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/oum-a-sons-quest-for-his-mother-review-barbican-hall-london-bushra-el-turk-wout-van-tongeren
9 days ago
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Ahead of the Barbican's Arvo Part at 90 exhibition, I explored the blanched sonic world of Estonia's greatest living composer:
www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/arvo-pa...
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Arvo PĂ€rt at 90 - The Tablet
Who is the worldâs most performed living composer? According to statistics, the answer is John Williams: classical musicâs commercial king of Hollywood. No
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/arvo-part-at-90/
10 days ago
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Is it time to stop worrying and learn to love Verdi's operatic bomb? I enjoyed a third visit to Stefan Herheim's Vepres Siciliennes
@royaloperahouse.bsky.social
gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Verdi: Les Vepres Siciliennes at Royal Opera | Live Review
It's all undeniably gorgeous â and, if you can hold on to the slippery double-narrative âcompelling
https://gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/verdi-les-vepres-siciliennes-at-royal-opera-live-review
19 days ago
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It was a gift to have a reason to spend far too much time listening to the many - and very varied - recordings of Jean Richafort's ravishing Requiem for Gramophone magazine - try this and marvel:
open.spotify.com/track/2KTkXA...
www.gramophone.co.uk/features/art...
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Requiem in memoriam Josquin Desprez: I. Introitus - Requiem aeternam
https://open.spotify.com/track/2KTkXAgx6x8s21R6uWFKGO?si=d2e1a82aaa944bfb
20 days ago
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The Royal Opera's new Tosca delivers just enough shock without scaring the horses:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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'Putin's Diva' sparked protests - but she brought star-power to Tosca
The first new staging for almost 20 years brings the shock-factor back to Puccini's opera
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/putins-diva-sparked-protests-brought-star-power-tosca-3914782?srsltid=AfmBOoqh5r9_QX0p5ssMk2uY5PD8SCUcIIWs8SpKy6Ah20Yzy64kCgp2
29 days ago
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Is it a musical or an opera? Grimeborn's Sense & Sensibility: The Musical should pick a lane:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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Grimeborn's Sense and Sensibility is edgy yet unmemorable
This opera-musical at the Arcola Theatre in East London has a nifty DIY quality, but fails to capitalise on its strengths
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/grimeborn-sense-and-sensibility-musical-review-edgy-unmemorable-3869705?srsltid=AfmBOori44LQ8_wLgQYkkF7qexP9Xn4DWmX2WyZmSYbHjqtg2_yTE4Bg
about 2 months ago
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An opera company makes its London debut: review of Wild Arts' sober Eugene Onegin & a giddy Elisir d'amore at Opera Holland Park:
gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Wild Arts Opera at Opera Holland Park | Live Review
The Essex-based company presents Eugene Onegin and The Elixir of Love
https://gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/wild-arts-opera-at-opera-holland-park-live-review
about 2 months ago
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Loved the music, hated the hall - pace purists, but it's time for some inauthentic solutions to early music at the Proms...
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
Graham Rickson đźđȘ
2 months ago
This new Hyperion album contains a piece by someone new to me, a man with the BEST FRENCH COMPOSER NAME EVER. Does anyone know anything about Didier-Gaston de l'Aubergine?
#classicalmusic
#cello
#frenchcomposers
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Good to be going head to head with
@larkingrumple.bsky.social
again in Gramophone - this time about a classic recording of Poulencâs Dialogues des Carmelites:
2 months ago
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**** Some seriously classy playing from Kantorow and a Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing like a crack baroque band for Emelyanychev: BBC Proms review @theipaper.com
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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Alexandre Kantorow is superb - but Maxim Emelyanychev was the star
Emelyanychev brought this broad and delicate performance of Betthoven's Fifth together
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/alexandre-kantorow-is-superb-but-maxim-emelyanychev-was-the-star-3827467
3 months ago
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Very much enjoyed my first trip to West Green Opera
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Verdi: Macbeth at West Green Opera | Live Review
The real musical thrills here are all on the stage. Male and female choruses set the tone: zingy, strongly projected and articulated â serious talent-in-waiting
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/verdi-macbeth-at-west-green-opera-live-review
3 months ago
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First visit to @westgreenopera_ last night - what a magical garden and place. Bonus points for three-man duck security team shaking down picnickers for crumbsâŠ
3 months ago
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Plenty of laughs and some cracking orchestral playing in this rewrite of Mozartâs The Impresario at Buxton Festival. Debut review from me @TheStage
www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-...
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The Impresario review at Buxton Opera House: Multilayered
Read our review of The Impresario at Buxton Opera House. Directed by Christopher Gillett, a contemporary rewrite gives Mozart's operatic oddity new comic zest
https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-impresario-review-buxton-opera-house-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-opera-zuid-christopher-gillett
3 months ago
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My top picks from a fab BBC Proms 2026 season for
@thetablet.bsky.social
www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/the-pro...
3 months ago
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My season guide to the Proms for
@thetablet.bsky.social
t
www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/the-pro...
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The Proms are back in full voice - The Tablet
The pandemic was a watershed in the arts: the BC/AD of funding, programming, planning â of survival, even. The BBC Proms are classical musicâs
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/the-proms-are-back-in-full-voice/
3 months ago
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Longborough beyond Wagner: the festivalâs first PellĂ©as is rich and thoughtful:
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Debussy: Pelléas et Melisande at Longborough | Live Review
Light â and its lack â is everything in Ogilvieâs production
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/debussy-pelleas-et-melisande-at-longborough-live-review
3 months ago
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A monumental achievement from British Youth Opera (and can someone please hire Mark Le Brocq to sing Grimes again please?). Reviewed Peter Grimes for
@ccmusicuk.bsky.social
:
criticscircle.org.uk/a-rich-haul-...
3 months ago
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Some thrilling singing helps Oliver Mears' Semele come crackling to life at the Royal Opera:
oper-magazin.de/kritiken/auf...
review auf deutsch in
@opermagazin.bsky.social
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Semele, Royal Opera House Covent Garden | OPER!
Oliver Mearsâ Semele-Inszenierung wechselt von Paris nach London. Im Orchestergraben wie auch zwischen den SĂ€ngern prickelt es dabei mĂ€chtig â da fĂ€llt ein fragwĂŒrdiger Schluss nicht groĂ ins Gewicht.
https://oper-magazin.de/kritiken/auffuehrungen-international/semele-royal-opera-house-london-2025/
3 months ago
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Orchestral partnerships are the engine of summer opera companies. Thrilling things happening @GarsingtonOpera in large part thanks to
@philharmonialondon.bsky.social
&
@englishconcert.bsky.social
thetablet.co.uk/authors/alex...
reviews of Rodelinda & Elisir d'amore @The_Tablet
4 months ago
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"By turns beautiful and frustrating": Review of A Visit to Friends - Colin Matthews and William Boyd's debut opera for the Aldeburgh Festival:
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Matthews: A Visit to Friends at Aldeburgh Festival | Live Review
Itâs a lot to juggle, but unfolds with exemplary clarity in Rachael Hewerâs production, which pivots the two worlds on a revolve
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/matthews-a-visit-to-friends-at-aldeburgh-festival-live-review
4 months ago
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A sparky, feel-good Elisir d'amore at Garsington and a disappointing Madama Butterfly at Grange Park:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
review
@theipaper.com
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The best show this summer opera season - and one to avoid
Garsington Opera's 'L'elisir dâamore' delights, while Grange Park Opera's 'Madama Butterfly' falls flat
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/best-show-summer-opera-season-one-avoid-3738123
4 months ago
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Interviewed the delightful Masaaki Suzuki for The Tablet ahead of his debut with the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra later this month:
4 months ago
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The Barbicanâs Feel The Sound exhibition makes a lot of noise while saying nothing at all: review
@thetablet.bsky.social
5 months ago
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David McVicar's Faust still does the business for the Royal Opera. (And there's an interesting debut from Carolina Lopez Moreno):
theartsdesk.com/opera/faust-...
review
@theartsdesk.bsky.social
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Faust, Royal Opera review - pure theatre in this solid revival
âSatan come to me!â The Devil doesnât so much appear in David McVicarâs Faust as reveal himself to have always been there. We discover him â travelling trunk and brandy glass to hand, lazy smile on hi...
https://theartsdesk.com/opera/faust-royal-opera-review-pure-theatre-solid-revival
5 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
theartsdesk.com
5 months ago
PYGMALION
#EarlyOperaCompany
#ChristianCurnyn
#MiddleTempleHall
-
#Rameau
magic outside the opera house in this welcome opportunity to catch opera-ballet, though not everything is in perfect focus, says
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
www.theartsdesk.com/opera/pygmal...
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Pygmalion, Early Opera Company, Curnyn, Middle Temple Hall review - Rameau magic outside the opera house
With French baroque opera all but banished from the UKâs major opera companies, itâs left to concert halls and country houses to fill the void. Thereâs a full-length treat ahead this summer with Ramea...
https://www.theartsdesk.com/opera/pygmalion-early-opera-company-curnyn-middle-temple-hall-review-rameau-magic-outside-opera
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Anyone in Cambridge tonight or London tomorrow, coming along to the
@aam.co.uk
Art of Fugue staging, i'll be pre-concert talking with Bill Barclay & Laurence Cummings at 6.30pm:
aam.co.uk/concerts/bac...
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Bach's The Art of Fugue â AAM
Academy of Ancient Music and producer Bill Barclay present Bach's The Art of Fugue, with performances in Cambridge and London.
https://aam.co.uk/concerts/bachs-the-art-of-fugue/
5 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
UK Critics' Circle Music
5 months ago
Telemann's Pimpinone: a rare baroque gem comes up sparkling at the Royal Opera. Review by
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
for The Critics' Circle.
criticscircle.org.uk/telemanns-pi...
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Telemann's Pimpinone: A Rare Baroque Gem Comes Up Sparkling at the Royal Opera | The Critics' Circle
Pimpinone and Serpetta, photo © Camilla Greenwell A maidservant on the make and her foolish-fond employer â you barely need to fill in the details. But in Pimpinone Telemann takes a classic operatic g...
https://criticscircle.org.uk/telemanns-pimpinone-a-rare-baroque-gem-comes-up-sparkling-at-the-royal-opera/
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Opera in the UK: a tale of two seasons
www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/opera-i...
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Opera is in crisis, yet summer opera is thriving - The Tablet
Opera in the UK is in crisis. The English National Opera is being driven out of London, heading to Manchester and a by-no-means-certain future. Welsh National
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/opera-is-in-crisis-yet-summer-opera-is-thriving/
5 months ago
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This rare Telemann gem comes up sparkling from the Jette Parker Young Artists and the Royal Opera:
criticscircle.org.uk/telemanns-pi...
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Telemann's Pimpinone: A Rare Baroque Gem Comes Up Sparkling at the Royal Opera | The Critics' Circle
Pimpinone and Serpetta, photo © Camilla Greenwell A maidservant on the make and her foolish-fond employer â you barely need to fill in the details. But in Pimpinone Telemann takes a classic operatic g...
https://criticscircle.org.uk/telemanns-pimpinone-a-rare-baroque-gem-comes-up-sparkling-at-the-royal-opera/
5 months ago
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The drama of Barrie Kosky's Die Walkure is in the details:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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Pyromaniacs won't be disappointed by Barrie Kosky's Die WalkĂŒre
The second instalment of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera has all the creeping horror of the apocalypse
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/die-walkure-royal-opera-review-barrie-kosky-pyromaniacs-disappointed-3672459?srsltid=AfmBOoovawStZ6pB2ln-DfV4WoklVm1gZnEWAHrZtXRMr0qwvwOL6xaw
5 months ago
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I got on my soapbox for the I Paper about the current trend for marathon classical music: performance as endurance sport.(With bonus Pauline Oliveros for those who stick around)
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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Marathon concerts are ruining classical music
From operatic epics to all-night performances, the music world has gone super-size - but audiences shouldn't be subjected to endurance tests
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/marathon-concerts-ruining-classical-music-3641042
6 months ago
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What a treat to get to talk to novelist William Boyd and composer Colin Matthews about their new collaborationâŹâ© for âŠâȘOpera Magazine:
6 months ago
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What a pleasure to chat to assorted Bevans for the current edition of The Tablet: bags of joys (and penitential music):
6 months ago
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Found this new history of black opera fascinating and frustrating in equal measure:
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Book review: Dreaming in Ensemble, How Black Artists Transformed American Opera
Lucy Caplan's history of Black opera on Harvard University Press is undigestibly academic
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/book-review-dreaming-in-ensemble-how-black-artists-transformed-american-opera
7 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
Zoë Crowther
7 months ago
For anyone who missed this very important news, Jennie the guide dog crossed the floor of the House of Commons yesterday to be stroked by Labour MPs She was then summoned by the Lib Dem Chief Whip for a very stern word
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Review: Royal Opera's Turandot for Opera Now: "Youâd have to be a psychopathic ice-princess not to be delighted. And yet..."
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...
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Puccini: Turandot at Royal Opera House | Live Review
No spectacle is left languishing in the directorâs theatrical chest
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/review/article/puccini-turandot-at-royal-opera-house-live-review
7 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
theartsdesk.com
7 months ago
â â â Bridging the centuries in sound: Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet bring more American punch than Gallic je-ne-sais-quoi to Ravel, finds
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
at Kings Place
theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
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Attacca Quartet, Kings Place review - bridging the centuries in sound
Memorably described by Gramophone magazine as the ânew kids on the classical blockâŠwith lavish pocket moneyâ, Appleâs London-based label Platoon is busy cementing its street cred with an ongoing conce...
https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/attacca-quartet-kings-place-review-bridging-centuries-sound
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More American punch than Gallic je ne sais quoi from the Attacca Quartet at Kings Place:
theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
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Attacca Quartet, Kings Place review - bridging the centuries in sound
Memorably described by Gramophone magazine as the ânew kids on the classical blockâŠwith lavish pocket moneyâ, Appleâs London-based label Platoon is busy cementing its street cred with an ongoing conce...
https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/attacca-quartet-kings-place-review-bridging-centuries-sound
7 months ago
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Looking back on 25 years of the Choral Pilgrimage with Harry Christophers & Julie Cooper
@thetablet.bsky.social
www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/a-music...
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A musical pilgrimage - The Tablet
The Sixteenâs annual Choral PilÂgrimÂage is a fixture of UK classical music â as much part of the furniture as Bach Passions at Easter and Messiahs at
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/a-musical-pilgrimage/
7 months ago
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A musical arrival and a(nother) farewell:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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Renée Fleming is still the reigning old-school diva
Fleming was a fantastic grand dame singing Strauss, but debut London Philharmonic conductor Thomas Guggeis blew hot and cold
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/renee-fleming-strauss-reigning-grande-dame-3569329
7 months ago
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"You can sing a hymn on your own, but it doesn't feel the same - you know?" I spoke to the wonderful Abel Selaocoe, whose second album Hymns of Bantu brings his different musical worlds closer than ever:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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The South African star reinventing classical music
Cellist Abel Selaocoe explains how he brought his thrilling fusion of Western and African sounds from an African township to the international stage
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/the-south-african-star-reinventing-classical-music-3540741?srsltid=AfmBOoppNTD-4QhwxoGqaFZc1xNVuOJNBibxDIf6MANOZY7k4JQKK7xR
8 months ago
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It's a magnificent spectacle and wow that orchestral writing, but... Festen review for the I Paper:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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The Royal Opera's Festen is too outlandish - where is the chastity?
Mark-Anthony Turnage's production is characteristically bold, but operatic grandeur doesn't lend itself to the Danish avant-garde film it's based on
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/royal-opera-festen-review-too-outlandish-where-chastity-3531444?srsltid=AfmBOoqOofVMqRZvGb_Fjotb37N4fQIMSSAko5hurznSqopHLQDcVwPz
8 months ago
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A concert of musical 'What ifs?' struggled to come into focus:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...
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The Aurora Orchestra brought more what-ifs than superlatives to Fauré's Requiem
At London's Kings Place on Friday evening, what should have been a done deal turned into an oddity
https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/aurora-orchestra-faures-requiem-bbc-singers-review-3512962
8 months ago
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reposted by
Alexandra Coghlan
theartsdesk.com
8 months ago
â â â â Long on laughs, short on kerb appeal: The Marriage of Figaro
#EnglishNationalOpera
is a laugh-out-loud funny revival of an ingenious staging finds
@alexandracoghlan.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com/opera/marria...
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The Marriage of Figaro, English National Opera review - long on laughs, short on kerb appeal
Whoâs in and whoâs not â on the secret, the joke, the relationship, the family, the club? Thatâs the fulcrum of Joe Hill-Gibbinsâ ingeniously simple Figaro for English National Opera. A white box and ...
https://theartsdesk.com/opera/marriage-figaro-english-national-opera-review-long-laughs-short-kerb-appeal
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Lots to love about this zingy, properly funny Figaro from English National Opera:
theartsdesk.com/opera/marria...
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The Marriage of Figaro, English National Opera review - long on laughs, short on kerb appeal
Whoâs in and whoâs not â on the secret, the joke, the relationship, the family, the club? Thatâs the fulcrum of Joe Hill-Gibbinsâ ingeniously simple Figaro for English National Opera. A white box and ...
https://theartsdesk.com/opera/marriage-figaro-english-national-opera-review-long-laughs-short-kerb-appeal
8 months ago
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