Leeds
Orchestra of Opera North, Farnes, Leeds Town HallSunday, 06 December 2015
The few ensemble lapses and moments of insecurity during the first half of this concert had nothing to do with Richard Farnes’s conducting, or with the playing of an augmented Orchestra of Opera North. It’s in rude health; Farnes has refined and... Read more... |
The Flying Dutchman, Opera NorthSunday, 28 June 2015
We’ve been spoilt over the past few summers in Leeds; Opera North’s semi-staged Ring has been a triumph, and the whole cycle will be performed complete in June 2016. To fill the Town Hall in 2015 we’ve got concert performances of Wagner’s The Flying... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Nielsen, Choir of Gonville & Caius College, St Peter's SingersSaturday, 30 May 2015
Nielsen: Symphonies 2 and 6 Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Sakari Oramo (BIS)Few composers' music can blow away the cobwebs quite like that of Carl Nielsen, and David Fanning's sleeve note to this BIS disc rightly describes him as “the... Read more... |
Špaček, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Bělohlávek, Leeds Town HallSunday, 19 April 2015
You’ve booked the iconic Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and their charismatic chief conductor Jiří Bělohlávek to do a whistle-stop UK tour. Hoorah. But what do you get them to play? The mind boggles with programming possibilities. A symphony by... Read more... |
La Vida Breve/Gianni Schicchi, Opera NorthThursday, 19 February 2015
The good news first: director Christopher Alden’s new production of Gianni Schicchi is quite brilliant, and one of the funniest, cleverest things you’ll see in an opera house. Puccini’s taut one-acter is difficult to mess up, but it takes some skill... Read more... |
CD: Kaiser Chiefs - Education, Education, Education & WarSunday, 30 March 2014
By the time I reached “Coming Home” - the second track on Kaiser Chiefs’ fifth album, and the band’s "comeback" single - I was predicting not a riot exactly, but certainly a few snide comments below re: my knowledge of the Leeds lads’ back catalogue... Read more... |
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Daniel, Leeds Town HallSunday, 05 January 2014
Middle-period Mahler can be hair-raising enough under normal circumstances. In this performance of the Fifth Symphony, the angst and intensity dials had been turned up to 11. Every orchestral colour shone with greater intensity, and each change in... Read more... |
Stott, Orchestra of Opera North, Farnes, Leeds Town HallSunday, 08 December 2013
When you're young, you think that liking Elgar is a habit you'll grow into later in life, like buying a set of golf clubs or following The Archers in detail. As I shuffle into middle age, I find that I'm beginning to love this music more and more. I... Read more... |
Siegfried, Opera NorthSunday, 16 June 2013
Newcomers to this ongoing Ring cycle would be wrong to imagine that a series of semi-staged concert performances represent a downsizing, a half-hearted stab at Wagner production. The decision to perform the operas in Leeds’s vast Town Hall was made... Read more... |
Albert Herring, Opera NorthThursday, 16 May 2013
Staging Britten’s third opera in the round in a small performance space of the Howard Assembly Room makes complete sense. Albert Herring’s supporting cast of village grotesques are that little bit more oppressive when they’re singing yards away from... Read more... |
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Wilson, Leeds Town HallSunday, 06 January 2013
Holst? Yes. Britten? Maybe. But John Adams? Programming Adams’ Guide to Strange Places as the extended opener in this National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain concert made complete sense after a few minutes; conductor John Wilson’s strengths as an... Read more... |
CD: Officers - On The Twelve ThronesSunday, 02 December 2012
Ah, Goth. It’s a difficult genre to take in any way seriously unless you’re feeling under-appreciated while going through puberty. Then again, like heavy metal, maybe it’s not supposed to be taken seriously, more an enjoyably melodramatic way of... Read more... |
