A near-perfect triptych: at Opéra Bastille, Paris, Christof Loy conjures atmosphere inspired by film for Puccini's Il Trittico conducted by Carlo Rizzi

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi - Opéra Bastille (Photo: Guergana Damianova/OnP)

Puccini: Il Trittico; Asmik Grigorian, Alexey Neklyudov, Misha Kiria, Enkelejda Shkoza, Joshua Guerrero, Roman Burdenko, Karita Mattila, director Christof Loy, conductor Carlo Rizzi; Opéra Bastille, Paris
Reviewed by Andreas Rey, 29 April 2025

An excellent evening. A near-perfect triptych. Our Paris correspondent enjoys Puccini's trilogy directed by Christof Loy with Asmik Grigorian in three soprano roles

From April 29 to May 28, the Opéra Bastille presents a new production of Puccini's Il Trittico (Triptych), directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Carlo Rizzi. This was a co-production with the Salzburg Festival where the production debuted in 2022 with substantially the same case [see review on Bachtrack]. Three operas of different natures, all juxtaposed to demonstrate the breadth of the Italian composer's genius. Contrary to Puccini's own instructions, the German director begins the work with the opera buffa Gianni Schicchi, continues with the verist opera Il Tabarro and finishes with the Puccinian opera Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), allowing star Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian to build up the dramatic intensity before ending with a climactic finale.

We must begin by saluting the excellent work of the director's team, namely set designer Étienne Pluss, costume designer Barbara Drosihn, lighting designer Fabrice Kebour and dramaturg Yvonne Gebauer, who give each opera a different atmosphere, inspired by a film genre.

Puccini: Il Tabarro - Opéra Bastille (Photo: Guergana Damianova/OnP)

To capture the atmosphere of the opera buffa, the German director drew inspiration from the Italian comedy films of the 1960s and 1970s. 

This production, will undoubtedly be remembered for years to come: Massenet's Werther in Paris with Marina Viotti, Benjamin Bernheim & Marc Leroy-Calatayud conducting Les Siècles

Massenet: Werther - Marina Viotti, Benjamin Bernheim - Théâtre des Champs Elysées (Photo: Vincent Pontet)

Massenet: Werther; Marina Viotti, Benjamin Bernheim, Sandra Hamaoui, Jean-Sébastien, director: Christof Loy/Silvia Aurea De Stefano, Les Siècles, conductor: Marc Leroy-Calatayud; Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris
Reviewed by Andreas Rey

From Paris, our correspondent Andreas Rey feels that it is a long time since Massenet's Werther has been staged to such a high standard in the city.

From March 22 to April 6, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées presented a new production of Jules Massenet's Werther, directed by Christof Loy and revival director Silvia Aurea De Stefano (a co-production with Teatro alla Scala), with Marina Viotti as Charlotte and Benjamin Bernheim as Werther [Robert saw Bernheim in the role in Zurich in 2024, see review], and Marc Leroy-Calatayud conducting Les Siècles.

It's probably no exaggeration to consider it one of the best of the first quarter of 2025, at least. In fact, it's been a long time since a Werther has been staged to such a high standard in Paris. The few comments that follow should not distract readers. First of all, we must salute the German director's fine work, in terms of set design, costumes and acting.

Massenet: Werther - Act 1 - Théâtre des Champs Elysées (Photo: Vincent Pontet)

Opera as it ought to be: Mozart's Don Giovanni from Hurn Court Opera

Mozart: Don Giovanni - Hurn Court Opera (Photo: Patrick Frost, BlackStar Pictures)

Mozart: Don Giovanni: Sam Young, Samuel Lom, Lizzie Rydeer, Daniel Gray Bell, Hanna O'Brien, Harrison Chéné-Gration, Tilly Goodwin, William Stevens, dir: Joy Robinson, cond: Lynton Atkinson; Hurn Court Opera at Theatre Royal, Winchester
Reviewed by James McConnachie, 11 April 2024

A dedicated group of vastly talented singers – young singers – riding on the delight of an audience that was evidently as full of newbies as buffs

Even lifelong opera-lovers can sometimes feel dispirited. Opera survives on the support and generosity and love of a generation born within 20 years of the war – but anyone looking around them in the stalls, or the grand tier, or the balcony or, frankly, even the amphitheatre of the Royal Opera House might be forgiven for wondering where the next generation is going to come from. Is it economics that is keeping out the young and even the middle-aged? Is it the repertoire? The ambience? Or, worse, is it that younger people just don’t like the music?

I hope not, though it is fashionable to denigrate, or just ignore, supposedly ‘elite’ forms of art. And sometimes opera really does not help itself, with its persistent black-tie conventions and champagne-swilling intervals. Country house opera, in particular, can make you feel as if you’re not really part of it unless you’ve dropped a quarter of a million in patronage and packed the right sort of picnic.

All of which partly explains why Hurn Court Opera’s performance of Don Giovanni was the most uplifting, inspiring and enjoyable night at the opera I’ve had in years. Hurn Court Opera presented Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Theatre Royal, Winchester on 11 April 2024 with Sam Young as Don Giovanni, Samuel Lom as Leporello, Lizzie Ryder as Donna Anna, Daniel Gray Bell as Don Ottavio, Hannah O’Brien as Donna Elvira, Harrison Chéné-Gration as Masetto, Tilly Goodwin as Zerlina, and William Stevens as the Commendatore, conducted by Lynton Atkinson and directed by Joy Robinson.

This was opera as it ought to be: a dedicated group of vastly talented singers – young singers – riding on the delight of an audience that was evidently as full of newbies as buffs, and was conspicuously short on the Bollinger-and-banking crowd.

Mozart: Don Giovanni - Hurn Court Opera (Photo: Patrick Frost, BlackStar Pictures)

Clarity of musical purpose & remarkable intimacy: Regents Opera in Wagner's Siegfried

Wagner: Siegfried - Peter Furlong, Catharine Woodward - Regents Opera (Photo: Steve Gregson)

Richard Wagner: Siegfried; Holden Madagame, Peter Furlong, Ralf Lukas, Oliver Gibbs, Craig Lemont Walters, Corinne Hart, Mae Heydorn, Catharine Woodward, director: Caroline Staunton, conductor: Ben Woodward; Regents Opera at the Freemason's Hall
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 4 February 2024

Regents Opera reaches the third instalment of its Ring Cycle with a dramatic, intense and deeply intimate production of Siegfried

This was the third instalment of Regents Opera's ambitious and successful Ring - performed in the round at the Freemason's Hall (4 February 2024), directed by Caroline Staunton and with a brand new chamber orchestration by conductor Ben Woodward. Das Rheingold and Die Walküre [see Florence's review], the previous two operas in the series impressed enormously, both with their clarity of musical purpose, but also with the remarkable intimacy born from the scant metre or so which separated the singers from the audience, enabling every facial expression and gesture to be clearly seen, and every syllable and vocal nuance to be heard with an unusual immediacy.

From the very opening of the overture, Holden Madagame took advantage of this intimacy, drawing the audience into his world as he deftly conjured the character of Mime, the frustrated blacksmith, with his constant, restless activity, and brought vocal gymnastics to match his on-stage agility. Madagame spoke recently and extensively to Planet Hugill [see our article] about his experiences performing the part of Mime. 

He clearly understands the demands of the role go far beyond merely singing the notes, and this exceptional character tenor succeeded in that rare achievement of actually making Mime deep, multifaceted and surprisingly sympathetic, rather than the one-note villainous caricature which still appears far too frequently on our stages. This however, was a captivating performance of a complete and complex role, at turns expressive, plaintive, panicked and pleading – a masterclass from first line, to his utterly convincing death.

Wagner: Siegfried - Holden Madagame - Regents Opera (Photo: Steve Gregson)

A vivid panorama of Freya Waley-Cohen's compositional interests & techniques: Manchester Collective in Spell Book at the Barbican

Image of Freya Waley-Cohen for Spell Book (courtesy of the Barbican Centre)

Spell Book - Freya Waley-Cohen; Héloïse Werner, Fleur Barron, Katie Bray, Manchester Collective; Milton Court, Barbican Centre
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 1 February 2024

Music of true emotional power, direct, forceful and dramatic; it was clear on the strength of these fiery, fully committed performances to hear why the Manchester Collective keep returning to Waley-Cohen's compositions

Freya Waley-Cohen's fruitful and ongoing collaborations with the enthusiastic and engaged musicians of the Manchester Collective led to this concert at the Barbican Centre's Milton Court on 1 February 2024; a retrospective of her work with them over the past five years, including the premieres of her latest compositions for the group. Starting off with her enchanting tone poem Naiad, the bulk of the programme was filled with performances of the songs that make up her ever-growing song cycle Spell Book with soprano Héloïse Werner, and mezzo-sopranos Fleur Barron and Katie Bray.

Naiad, the only purely instrumental item in the programme, presented a sound world of flickering, shimmering light. Sustained, duet lines from flute and clarinet, lambent and glowing, were punctuated with delicately overlapping piano and harp figurations and gently wrapped in a gossamer tissue of string textures. Conductorless, led from the violin by artistic director Rakhi Singh, the ensemble featured string quintet, flute, clarinet, piano and harp and the players maintained throughout a connection with each other which seemed so intimate that it felt almost as if the audience were intruding into some private, spiritual moment.

An evening of bold & adventurous programming: wind & brass from Southbank Sinfonia & Britten Sinfonia combine under Nicholas Daniel at St John's Smith Square

Percy Grainger in the uniform of a US Army bandsman, 1917

Copland, Mozart, Lindberg, Stravinsky, Alberga, Grainger; Southbank Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, Nicholas Daniel; St John's Smith Square
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 18 January 2024

An enormously successful collaboration between two leading chamber orchestras

Combining the wind, brass and percussion players from two fantastic orchestras together into one ensemble, this was an evening of bold and adventurous programming featuring the combined forces from two different exciting and engaging ensembles. 

At St John's Smith Square on 18 January 2024, members of Southbank Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia combined under conductor Nicholas Daniel to present a kaleidoscopic and vibrant selection of music originally written for, or specially arranged for, wind and brass (with a sprinkle of percussion too), with music by Copland, Mozart, Magnus Lindberg, Stravinsky, Eleanor Alberga and Percy Grainger.

Epic re-imagining of Miles Davis’ legendary album 'Bitches Brew' in the first ever performance from super group London Brew

London Brew - EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican Centre (Photo:  Mark Allan)

London Brew: EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican Centre
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 18 November 2023

A veritable tsunami of electric jazz from a supergroup of London-based players

Back in the heady days of 1969, a Woodstock-inspired Miles Davis brought together eight leading jazz musicians in an epic three day long, freely improvised, recording session. The result was the monumental double LP Bitches Brew, recognised almost universally as one of the most influential jazz records of all time. 

In 2020 music publisher Bruce Lampcov, as a tribute to this landmark session, gathered a dozen members of the contemporary London jazz scene - not to recreate the original, but to collectively create something new in the same free, improvisatory spirit. The recorded result of these sessions was released as London Brew in 2020 to great critical acclaim. Three years later, this concert, given as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival in a sold out Barbican Hall on 18 November 2023, was the first live performance together of the concept, and being freely created, in the moment music making, was as different to the 2020 recording as it in turn was to its 1970 inspiration.

London Brew - EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican Centre (Photo:  Mark Allan)

Challenging and exciting: Marius Neset joins London Sinfonietta for a performance his Geyser

Marius Neset: Geyser - Marius Neset, London Sinfonietta (Photo: Sisi Burn)

Marius Neset: Geyser; Marius Neset, London Sinfonietta, Geoffrey Paterson; EFG London Jazz Festival at Queen Elizabeth Hall 
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders (17 November 2023)

One enormous sweep of wildly contrasting sounds, the Norwegian saxophonist and London Sinfonietta return to their third large-scale collaboration, premiered at last year's BBC Proms

The remarkable musicians of the London Sinfonietta are no strangers to collaborative work, and Geyser marks the third large-scale piece that Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset has written for them. Following the critical and artistic successes of Snowmelt (2015) and Viaduct (2019) this composition was even more ambitious, taking the form of an extended eight movement, 75 minute work for jazz quintet and chamber orchestra. As part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, Neset was joined at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 17 November 2023 by the London Sinfonietta, Conor Chaplin (bass), Ivo Neame (piano), Anton Eger (drums), Jim Hart (percussion) and conductor Geoffrey Paterson.

Neset and the London Sinfonietta premiered Geyser as part of the BBC Proms 2022, and the work was a BBC Commission. At the time, Neset said of the work, ''In the beginning of the composing process Geyser, as a title for the composition, came to me as I found it was a great metaphor for the music that I was writing; melodic and rhythmic motifs that evolve, creating ever bigger tension and pressure with regularly repeating eruptions, just like the water shooting out from an Icelandic Geyser fountain. During the compositional process the world around us changed though within one day! It was impossible not to be affected by the terrible war in Ukraine. From that day onwards the music changed direction. I also started to re-write some of the earlier parts. And now the title gave even more meaning to me as it reflects how fast life can change from one day to another."

Absolutely kaleidoscopic tour de force of collective music making: Hiromi at the EFG London Jazz Festival

Hiromi (Photo: Mari Amita)

Hiromi; EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders (13 November 2023)

One concert, two strikingly different ensembles. Superstar pianist Hiromi brings her collaborators to the EFG London Jazz Festival

On 13 November 2023, Japanese superstar pianist Hiromi brought two different ensembles to the EFG London Jazz Festival at the Barbican. The first half featured Hiromi:The Piano Quartet with Hiromi, Thomas Gould, Shlomy Dobrinsky (violins), Meghan Cassidy (viola) and Gabriella Swallow (cello), then the second half featured Hiromi's Sonicwonder with Hiromi, Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Hadrian Feraud (bass) and Gene Coye (drums). 

The main item in the first half was Hiromi's extensive and substantial Silver Lining Suite - a lockdown project that has now toured worldwide and is only now having its London debut. Conceived somewhere between chamber music and jazz, this four movement work for piano and string quartet maintained its drive and relentless forward momentum through forty minutes of wildly varied music.

Never a dull moment: Edward Lambert's Masque of Vengeance, a taut and driven new opera based on Thomas Middleton's 17th-century play, The Revenger's Tragedy

Edward Lambert: Masque of Vengeance - The Music Troupe (Photo: Claire Shovelton)

Edward Lambert: Masque of Vengeance; The Music Troupe, David Edwards; The Cockpit
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 9 November 2023

Based on a Thomas Middleton play from 17th century, Edward Lambert's new opera proves to be pacey, and exciting production, with an excellent and committed cast 

Composer Edward Lambert and his company, The Music Troupe presented Lambert's new opera, Masque of Vengeance, at the Cockpit Theatre from 7 9 November 2023, directed by David Edwards with Lelia Zanette, Charles Johnston, Francis Gush, Lawrence Thackeray, Will Diggle, Mae Heydorn,  Laure Meloy, Christopher Foster and Madeline Robinson, plus Alex Norton and Adrian Salinero on piano.

The opera is based on Thomas Middleton's 1606 play, The Revenger's Tragedy. Set in a fictitious Italian court, Middleton's farcical play pits ambitious factions against each other in a backstabbing bloodbath of revenge and trickery worthy of an episode of Game of Thrones. 

In adapting the text into his opera, prolific composer Edward Lambert has trimmed a dozen minor characters, extended the importance of the female roles and compressed the action into a taut and driven eighty minutes in which there is very little dead time. Powered along by a dynamic, pulsating score for piano duet, with soaring bel canto vocals and dramatic recitatives, there was never a dull moment to be experienced.

Edward Lambert: Masque of Vengeance - The Music Troupe (Photo: Claire Shovelton)

The level of polish & perfection is remarkable: Apollo5's Haven

Haven: Byrd, Paul Smith, de Monte, Taylor Scott Davis, Undine Smith Moore, Victora Vita Poleva, Michael McGlynn, Ola Gjeilo, Anna Kuzina-Rozhdestvenskaya, Sarah McLachlan, Marta Keen; Apollo5; VOCES8 Records
Reviewed 30 October 2023 by Florence Anna Maunders

Apollo5's new album features a glowing performance of Byrd's five-part mass alongside works  carefully selected to sustain the meditative mood including six works commissioned for the album

The five-voice a cappella ensemble Apollo5 has been with us for a dozen years now and continues to produce polished, glowing recordings with their new line up, including bass Augustus Perkins Ray (who blends perfectly with the remaining four members) for his first disc with the group, Haven on VOCES8 Records, which consists of the six movements of Byrd's masterful Mass for Five Voices intertwined with 11 other pieces from a remarkably wide range of other sources with music by Paul Smith, Philippe de Monte, Taylor Scott Davis, Undine Smith Moore, Victora Vita Poleva, Michael McGlynn, Ola Gjeilo, Anna Kuzina-Rozhdestvenskaya, Sarah McLachlan, and Marta Keen, including six tracks commissioned especially for this album.

Long may they continue! Kronos Quartet's celebratory 50th anniversary concert at the Barbican

Kronos Quartet - Barbican Centre, 21 October 2023 (Photo: Mark Allan)

Severiano Briseño, George Crumb, Gabriella Smith, Peni Candra Rini, Philip Glass, Zachary James Watkins, Antonio Haskell , Dumisani Maraire Mai Nozipo, Jlin, Terry Riley, Alfred Schnittke, Steve Reich; Kronos Quartet, Yahael Camara Onono, Peni Candra Rini; Barbican Centre
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 21 October 2023

An incredible evening celebrating a half-century of trailblazing music making

Returning to the Barbican on 21 October 2023 as a part of their continent-spanning 50th anniversary tour, the Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, violin, John Sherba, violin, Hank Dutt, viola, Paul Wiancko, cello) brought an extended programme of greatest hits from their extensive back catalogue as well as (of course, this is the Kronos Quartet) brand new music being premiered for the first time.

These four string players are genuine superstars of the contemporary classical scene, recognised as instrumental in the development of the string quartet across the last fifty years, both in their programming and commitment to new music, but also in their dedication to commissioning literally hundreds of new works for the medium. Most of the music in this concert reflects that collaborative approach, composed for, arranged for or commissioned by the quartet, the few exceptions including an excerpt from George Crumb's Black Angels - a piece which Kronos recorded over forty years ago, and which remains a central part of their repertoire.

John Findon takes the title role in ENO's magnificent revival of David Alden's production of Britten's Peter Grimes

Britten: Peter Grimes - English National Opera (Photo: Tom Bowles)

Britten:Peter Grimes; John Findon, Elizabeth Llewellyn, Simon Bailey, Christine Rice, director: David Alden, Martyn Brabbins; English National Opera
Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 6 October 2023

David Alden’s production of Britten’s Peter Grimes has been a big success for English National Opera. A five-star job, really, long may it stay in the repertoire

Due to the unavailability of Gwyn Hughes Jones, the pivotal role of Peter Grimes fell to British tenor, John Findon, who fitted so well the sea boots of this lone and anguished fisherman.

Partly written in America during the Second World War where Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears were escaping war-torn Britain on a pacifist ticket, Peter Grimes was premièred by Sadler’s Wells Opera (later to become English National Opera) at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Islington, on 7 June 1945, conducted by Reginald Goodall with Peter Pears in the title-role.

First seen in St Martin’s Lane in 2009, revived in 2014 with Edward Gardner in the pit, David Alden’s realization of Peter Grimes (assistant: Ian Rutherford) originally featured Stuart Skelton in the title-role who delivered a brilliant performance while this fine production won a South Bank Sky Arts Award shortly after its première.  

Now with this second (and welcome) revival, opening English National Opera’s 2023/24 season, conducted by Martyn Brabbins (ENO’s musical director), the role of Peter Grimes fell to British tenor, John Findon (replacing Gwyn Hughes Jones due to illness) plunging himself wholeheartedly into this lonesome and anguished character in a telling and surefooted performance, with Elizabeth Llewellyn as Ellen Orford, and Simon Bailey as Captain Balstrode.

Britten: Peter Grimes - Rudy Williams, Elizabeth Llewellyn - English National Opera (Photo: Tom Bowles)

A 3D, surround sound, high definition Vespers for the 21st Century: Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 from I Fagiolini at Kings Place

Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 - I Fagiolini, English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Hollingworth - Kings Place (Photo: Monika S Jakubowska)

Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610; I Fagiolini, English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Hollingworth; Kings Place
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 29 September 2023

Clarity and virtuosity in spectacular polychoral combination

Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 - I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
Kings Place (Photo: Monika S Jakubowska)

There is a long and varied performance tradition behind the 1610 Vespers of Monteverdi. Consisting of a collection of psalm settings, sacred songs, a sonata, a hymn and a complete Magnificat, each item calls for a different number and type of singer and instrumentalist.

The specialist baroque ensemble I Fagiolini are no strangers to the music of Monteverdi, and this wealth of experience and talent was fully evident in this luxurious production. In this performance at Kings Place on 29 September 2023, Director Robert Hollingworth marshalled an extensive and varied cohort of performers, including a large and colourful continuo section, the brilliant sounds of the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, I Fagiolini's own 6-part string ensemble and an ensemble of solo voices, performing the choral movements one-to-a-part almost throughout. Utilising the full space of Kings Place, including the stage, galleries, off-stage rooms and even the back of the hall directly behind the audience, this was a 3D, surround sound, high definition Vespers for the 21st Century, representing not only exceptional musicianship but also the latest academic research into the performance practices of the early 1600's.

A half hour full of switchback changes, genuine surprise & delight: Rania Chrysostomou & Sarah Parkin's On Being Vocal at Tête à Tête

Rania Chrysostomou & Sarah Parkin: On Being Vocal - Sarah Parkin - Tête à Tête at the Cockpit (Photo: Claire Shovelton)

Rania Chrysostomou & Sarah Parkin: On Being Vocal; Sarah Parkin, director: Sarah Parkin & Rania Chrysostomou, filmmaker: Catherine Valve; Tête à Tête at the Cockpit
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 10 September 2023

Intriguing and intense operatic exploration of women's hidden stories

A truly collaborative creation between the British/Cypriot composer Rania Chrysostomou and the Canadian/French soprano Sarah Parkin, On Being Vocal, was presented on 10 September 2023 at the Cockpit as part of Tête à Tête: the Opera Festival. This short opera managed to squeeze an enormous amount of content and variety into a running time just over half an hour. In the setting of a women's support group, and aided by Catherine Valve's projected film, Parkin took on the six different roles, each with its own distinct characterisation and musical voice.

Starting with a nice touch of scene setting – a short film showing the women arriving one-at-a-time to a semicircle of chairs, the action moved to the stage itself, the same arc of chairs recreated, in the real. Initially inhabiting the character of the group leader, and then the other women, Parkin moved from chair to chair, using a few props to clearly establish her multiple roles, each of which had its own aria or song, so that in this manner the work's structure was delineated by the changing characterisations.

Baroque rarity: Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre's Céphale et Procris at the Grimeborn Festival

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre: Céphale et Procris
Ensemble OrQuesta

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre: Céphale et Procris; Ensemble OrQuesta, Marcio da Silva; Grimeborn Festival Arcola Theatre
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 30th August 2023

Rare production of baroque opera from a female composer

Premiered in 1694, French composer Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre's Céphale et Procris was not a success and only ran for five or six performances before disappearing from the stage. The work was revived in the late 20th century and is, however, still rarely staged. Were it not for its milestone significance in being the first published French opera by a female composer, it has little to distinguish it musically from other post-Lully stage works of the late 1600's, with an almost stereotypical plot set in classical Athens.

Jacquet de La Guerre's Céphale et Procris was performed at Arcola Theatre's Grimeborn Festival (seen 30 August) by Marcio da Silva's Ensemble OrQuesta with Kieran White as Céphale and Poppy Shotts as Procris. The dynamic one-man force of nature that is Marcio da Silva has committed everything in his power towards the success of this production, directing, conducting, producing a new edition of the score, performing in the orchestra and even appearing in the small role of Arcas. It can't be denied that the production has some successful moments. Although the nature of the drama strived and ultimately failed to escape its 17th Century sensibilities, it still had plenty of elegance, style and moved through the many short musical episodes with a surefooted and rapid pace.

Overwhelmingly intense electronic sound worlds from marginalised voices: Nonclassical's Disruptive Frequencies at Kings Place

Aniruddha Das aka Dhangsha

Disruptive Frequencies: Gary Stewart, Amit Dinesh Patel, Nikki Sheth, Poulomi Desai, Nicole Raymond, Aniruddha Das - Nonclassical at Kings Place
16 July 2023, reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders

A fruit of Amit Dinesh Patel's research into cultural diversity in experimental sound, Disruptive Frequences featured six performers in almost complete darkness, giving a theatrical and almost religious aspect to the whole evening

Disruptive Frequencies is one of the results of Amit Dinesh Patel's research into cultural diversity in experimental sound – a project with the aim of addressing the the distinct lack of visibility of Black and Brown artists within the field. The record label, music promoter, events producer and charity Nonclassical worked together with the SOUND/IMAGE Research Centre (based at the University of Greenwich) to create this album, parts of which were presented live at this record launch / concert in Islington's Kings Place. In almost complete darkness, the stage was set with multiple altars of sound equipment, giving a theatrical and almost religious aspect to the whole evening.

Opening proceedings with his work Dark Energy Live Stream Track 2, Gary Stewart spun a compelling and complex web of manipulated white and filtered noise, delivered at crushing volume and building into a driven, lopsided pulsation, which successfully maintained an aloof poise of non-expressive abstraction over an extended span, with gargling, rumbling subterranean oscillations held in check and only infrequently allowed to emerge from a tightly controlled cage. The darkened, expectant silence which followed was galvanised by the overwhelming noise-scape of Patel's extended sonic essay Chakria. Defying all attempts at a conventional formal approach, this was a piece which embraced a sense of timelessness. Lacking the convention of any regular pulsation to divide the passage of time from moment to moment, the unearthly timbres seemed to exist in an unlimited aural void, defined without recourse to human expectations, exploring an alien landscape of crackling static electromagnetic fields, cycling machinery and broken transmissions.

In complete contrast, the two pieces presented by Nikki Sheth, developed from field recordings, both conveyed a very real sense of place. The splashing water, manipulated honking geese and flapping wings of Sandwell Valley worked in harmony to effectively construct an impressionist landscape with sounds, a mediation on location without any need for the Western affectations of form, structure and long-term development, as did the often beautiful collage of subtly edited bird calls which comprised Pemberton Gardens.

The DIY punk aesthetic of the self-taught multidisciplinary artist and curator Poulomi Desai was very much evident in the overwhelming sonic experience of her evocatively titled Electromagnetic signals from our raging Black Earth, all our flora and fauna are burning, which lived up to its titular expectations with blasts of distorted, furiously raging electronic signal-noise, layered with insistent warning sirens, the clangour of broken circuitry, and a sense of theatrical overload. Very much a highlight of the evening, and of the album as a whole, this is music for the end of the world – a distress call from the heart of destruction rendered in coruscating electronic timbres at ear-pulverising volumes.

Exploring a wide range of sampled distorted voices & glitchy synths, Nicole Raymond's set was a study in the use of panned delays. In a live setting, as opposed to the immersive world of headphones, this created a very different impression, somehow both more focused and simultaneously more incoherent. Her techniques strip sounds of their original meanings and contexts, like a collage of panels from different comics, presented in the infinitely receding reflections of a hall of mirrors - somehow creating a new meaning, but a meaning which is always just out of reach to the listener. Raymond's sound world is hypnotic, disorientating and perplexing, with a sense of dark humour.

Concluding the evening, the vastly experienced eminence behind the whole project, Aniruddha Das (aka Dhangsha) performed a live electronic remix of his own tracks Mahapralay and Germinate. Drawing on a wide range of cultural influences, from dub to bhangra via African clave patterns, this was the most traditionally metrical and groove-based work on display across the evening, as evidenced by the number of bobbing heads in the well-attended and mixed audience. Additionally, as the only artist this evening to work extensively with synthesis, his was the music with the most pitch-based content. Continually varied through constant repetitions by gradual alterations, disintegrations, distortions and fragmentations this was music that seemed constantly dancing on the edge between rigid order and collapse into total chaos. Straddling a line between tradition(s) and innovation, Das presented a set which was on the verge of danceable, yet never crossing the line into predictability of phrase, pattern or timbre.

Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders

Disruptive Frequencies is available as a double vinyl or download from Nonclassical.

Disruptive Frequences at Kings Place, 16 July 2023
Bantu (Gary Stewart) - Dark Energy Live Stream Track 2
Dushume (Amit Dinesh Patel) - Chakria
Nikki Sheth - Sandwell Valley
Poulomi Desai - Electromagnetic signals from our raging Black Earth, all our flora and fauna are burning
NikNak (Nicole Raymond) - Combative Embers / Swirls
Nikki Sheth - Pemberton Gardens
Dhangsha (Aniruddha Das) – Mahapralay / Germinate

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• There are things to discover still: Benjamin Appl on exploring themes of temptation and seduction in his latest album, Forbidden Fruit -interview
• An engaging and eclectic selection: Soar from Alastair Penman and Jonathan Pease - record review
• Any performance of Verdi's Don Carlo is an event: Verdi's large-scale drama returns to Covent Garden with Lise Davidsen and Brian Jagde - opera review
• An engaging diversity & fierce intelligence: the piano music of Bernard Hughes played by Matthew Mills - record review
• Imagination and seduction: Huw Wiggin in Rhapsody, music Debussy, Joseph Phibbs, Iain Farrington, Coates, Jennifer Watson, and Liszt - record review
• Heard in her own right: an important new disc explores Fanny Hensel's songs, focusing on the unknown and unrecorded - record review
• The Elixir of Love: Wild Arts brings Guido Martin-Brandis' enjoyably characterful production of Donizetti's opera to the Thaxted Festival - opera review
• Mendelssohn, Schumann and a Noah Max premiere: Emma Abbate & the Tippett Quartet at the Thaxted Festival - concert review
• Delving into her Greek background: Lisa Archontidi-Tsaldaraki's debut recital places 20th-century Greek composers alongside Bartok, Szymanowski and Ravel - interview
• I have rarely heard Bach's Mass in B minor performed with such consistency of style, integrity and sheer musicality: Vox Luminis at Wigmore Hall - concert review
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An intimate, chamber production of Wagner's Die Walküre from Regents Opera

Wagner: Die Walküre - Justine Viani (Sieglinde), Catharine Woodward (Brünnhilde), the Valkyries  - Regents Opera 2023 (Photo: Steve Gregson)

Wagner: Die Walküre; Brian Smith Walters, Justine Viani, Gerrit Paul Groen, Keel Watson, Catharine Woodward, Ingeborg Novrup Børch, director: Caroline Staunton, conductor: Ben Woodward; Regents Opera at the Freemasons' Hall
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 27 May 2023

Reduced forces, but heightened drama from the second instalment of Regents Opera's Wagner in the round

Regents Opera returned to the Freemasons' Hall for Caroline Staunton's production of Wagner's Die Walküre (seen 27 May 2023) with Brian Smith Walters as Siegmund, Justine Viani as Sieglinde, Gerrit Paul Groen as Hunding, Keel Watson as Wotan, Catharine Woodward as Brünnhilde, and Ingeborg Novrup Børch as Fricka. This was the second instalment of musical director Ben Woodward's new arrangement of Wagner's tetralogy, with the orchestra reduced to just 22 players, including organ. Combined with the staging, which thrust the action into the centre of the room, surrounded on three sides by the audience, the overall effect was to create an intimate, chamber production of Wagner's most intimate chamber opera, which rarely has more than two characters on stage at a time.

Wagner: Die Walküre - Keel Watson (Wotan) - Regents Opera 2023 (Photo: Steve Gregson

The Library of a Prussian Princess: Ensemble Augelletti at the Newbury Spring Festival

Ensemble Augelletti

The Library of a Prussian Princess; Ensemble Augelletti at the Newbury Spring Festival; Corn Exchange, Newbury
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 8 May 2023

Historically informed and charismatic virtuosity dazzle in the opening concert of Newbury Spring Festival's Young Artists' Recitals

One of the treasures of Berkshire's musical life, for years the Young Artists' Recital series has been part of the exciting programming of Newbury Spring Festival, giving a platform to exceptional chamber musicians and soloists at the start of their careers. A glance back at programmes from past years reads like a veritable who's-who of familiar names from across the UK and further afield, a clear reflection of the level of success enjoyed by festival director Mark Eynon's stated ambition to bring world-class music to Newbury.

Within the non-stop wall-to-wall concert programming of the two-week-long festival, this series of six recitals form a regular pattern, opening this year with the exciting UK-based period Ensemble Augelletti (Olwen Foulkes, recorders, Ellen Bundy, violin, Carina Drury, cello, Toby Carr, lute, Benedict Williams, harpsichord). With a string of prizes and awards already under their belts, and a very well-reviewed debut CD released last year [see Robert's review], it was unsurprising to see a large turnout at Newbury's magnificent Georgian Corn Exchange theatre for this lunchtime recital on 8 May 2023. 

Under the title, The Library of a Prussian Princess, the group presented a series of pieces collected from the personal library of Prussian princess Anna Amalia, perhaps best known as the musical sister of King Fredrich the Great and a life-long champion and patron of the Bach family, especially J.S. Bach, and his son C.P.E Bach, both of whom appeared on this programme, alongside works copied out in manuscript for the library for Amalia, and a selection of her own compositions as well.

Cautionary Tales: the current cohort of Young Artists from the National Opera Studio in an evening of contemporary opera

Cautionary Tales - National Opera Studio with Opera North at Wilton's Music Hall (Photo Malcolm I Johnson)

Cautionary Tales: Judith Weir, Tom Coult, Tansy Davies, Steven Mackey, Elena Kats-Chernin, Soren Nils Eichberg, Jonathan Dove, Errollyn Wallen; National Opera Studio with Opera North; Wilton's Music Hall
Reviewed 3 May 2023 by Florence Anna Maunders

Dramatic contemporary operatic excerpts from a cohort of exceptional young voices in Whitechapel's historic Wilton's Music Hall

Whitechapel's battered monument to a theatrical past, the crumbing and wonderful Wilton's Music Hall, was the setting for Cautionary Tales, this fascinating partnership between the fresh enthusiasm of the National Opera Studio's Young Artists, and the brilliantly responsive and highly experienced Orchestra of Opera North, conductor Gary Walker. Over the course of eight 'bleeding chunks' of contemporary (mostly British) opera, by Judith Weir, Tom Coult, Tansy Davies, Steven Mackey, Elena Kats-Chernin, Soren Nils Eichberg, Jonathan Dove, Errollyn Wallen, the eleven vocalists demonstrated their abilities across an enormous range of emotions, musical styles and narrative approaches. The performers were sopranos Sarah Seunghwa Chae, Beren Kader Fidan, Hasmik Harutyunyan and Samantha Quillish, mezzo-sopranos Laura Fleur and Emma Roberts, tenors Phillip Costovski, Rhydian Jenkins and Felix Gygli, basses Jack Holton and Smelo Mahlangu, directed by Olivia Fuchs.

Cautionary Tales - National Opera Studio with Opera North at Wilton's Music Hall (Photo Malcolm I Johnson)