thu 07/08/2025

David Nice

David Nice's picture
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

Royal Opera Christmas Concert online review – pajama party around the Nutcracker tree

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Upstart Crow: Lockdown Christmas 1603, BBC Two review – plaguey beaks and bubonidiots

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Zimerman, LSO, Rattle, LSO St Luke's review - rainbow colours, continuity and imperial soaring

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Gabriele Carcano, Fidelio Orchestra Cafe - fresh, funny and focused Beethoven

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Kanneh-Mason Trio/Cassadó Ensemble, Kings Place review - the fewer the players, the greater the music

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Fast Food, Fast Music, Spitalfields Festival online - sizzling, scintillating fun and mastery

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Mofidian, Britten Sinfonia, Elder, Saffron Hall review - meditations and mirth

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Small Axe: Alex Wheatle, BBC One review - elliptical telling of a writer's troubled early life

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L'enfant et les sortilèges, VOPERA, LPO, Reynolds online – Ravel and Colette reimagined

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Ariodante, Royal Opera online review – stylish, but confined

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Má Vlast, Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov online review – finest silk for Velvet Revolution anniversary concert

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City of London Sinfonia, Southwark Cathedral review – towards Haydn’s last symphony

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Mozart's Requiem, English National Opera, BBC Two review - strong and direct act of remembrance

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Diabelli Variations, Imogen Cooper, Fidelio Orchestra Cafe review - a universe for a (temporary) farewell

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The Magic Flute, Glyndebourne review - deeply moving light in darkness

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Julia Bullock, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review – bewitching dreamscapes

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Káťa Kabanová, Glyndebourne review - emotional concentration...

Even more perhaps than straight theatre, opera seems to draw attention to the meaning behind what may on the face of it appear a simple story....

The Count of Monte Cristo, U&Drama review - silly telly...

Alexandre Dumas’ novel has been filmed an immeasurable number of times (there was a new French version only last year) and...