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

Pavel Kolesnikov, Fidelio Orchestra Café review – a Chopin cosmos

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Anne Applebaum: Twilight of Democracy review - lost friends and new hope

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theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2020 – great live orchestra, ecstatic audience

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 21 - from large-scale memories to chamber-music streaming

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Alina Ibragimova, Samson Tsoy, Fidelio Orchestra Café review – cataclysms and calm on the Clerkenwell Road

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This House is Full of Music, Imagine..., BBC One review – a spring dream of a lockdown concert

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 20 - more signs of musical life around the UK

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Steven Isserlis, Fidelio Orchestra Café review – distilled reflection, joy and wit

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 19 – and two before a live audience

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My Brilliant Friend, Season 2: The Story of a New Name, Sky Atlantic review – a troubling friendship deepens

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 17 - festive inventions

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Live from Covent Garden 2, Royal Opera and Ballet online review - heaven and earth in a nutshell

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 16 - putting freelancers first

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Don Giovanni/Sibelius plus, Swedish RSO, Harding, livestream review - dark studio rituals

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Live from Covent Garden 1, Royal Opera and Ballet online review - small-scale but perfectly formed

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Classical music/Opera direct to home 15 - opening up at different rates

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Concerts need to have themes, it seems, today, and the BBC Philharmonic’s publicity suggested two contrasting ideas for the opening of its 2025-26...