wed 24/09/2025

David Nice

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Bio
The classical music and opera editor of theartsdesk, David writes, lectures and broadcasts on music. A former music critic for The Guardian and The Sunday Correspondent, he has made regular appearances on BBC Radio 3, not least in the long-running series Building a Library. He has written short studies on Elgar, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and the history of opera, and is currently working on the second volume of his Prokofiev biography for Yale University Press. He runs two Zoom lecture series, Opera in Depth on Mondays and a symphonies course on Thursdays.

Articles By David Nice

Gabriela Montero, Kings Place review - improvising to a Chaplin classic is the icing on a zesty cake

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theartsdesk at the Two Moors Festival - birdsong, gongs and nocturnes in Dartmoor churches

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Philharmonia, Rouvali, RFH review - the really big orchestra is back for cosmic Strauss

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Jenůfa, Royal Opera review - Janáček scours the soul again in a compelling new take

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Carnac, BCMG, Kemp, Music@Malling Festival - lyrical Turnage frames abstruse fancies

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The Midsummer Marriage, LPO, Gardner, RFH review – Tippett’s cornucopia shines in fits and starts

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Our Future in Your Hands, Peckham School Choirs, Multi-Story Orchestra, Stark, Bold Tendencies review - blazing community epic

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Rigoletto, Royal Opera review - routine clouds the best in this season opener

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Proms Festival Orchestra, Wigglesworth, BBC Proms review - brilliant work in progress, perfect Adagietto

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Sheku Kanneh-Mason, RLPO, Hindoyan, BBC Proms review - wood magic and swashbuckling show-offs

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Tristan und Isolde, Glyndebourne, BBC Proms review - endless love, perfect pace

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theartsdesk at the Birgit Nilsson Days - the rich legacy of a farm girl turned diva

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Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Chineke! Orchestra, Bovell, BBC Proms - a star danced

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Brahms Piano Concertos, Tsoy, Philharmonia, Emelyanychev, Bold Tendencies - rich epic mastery in concrete surroundings

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CBSO, Gražinytė-Tyla, BBC Proms review - expectations teased, seldom fulfilled

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RhineGold, Birmingham Opera Company, Symphony Hall review - music-drama at the highest level

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Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra last seared us in Britten’s amazing Violin Concerto, with Vilde Frang as soloist, on the very...

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Between bouts of that far from shabby, still shocking masterpiece Tosca, Royal Opera music director Jakub Hrůša ...