sun 10/08/2025

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

Prom 51: Die Zauberflöte, Glyndebourne review - smooth classic without depth

Read more...

Edinburgh International Festival 2019: Bach's Multiple Concertos/ Manon Lescaut reviews - dancing harpsichords, perfect Puccini

Read more...

Edinburgh International Festival 2019: Breaking the Waves, Scottish Opera/Opera Ventures review - great film makes a dodgy opera

Read more...

Prom 44: Finley, LSO & Chorus, Orfeó Català, Rattle review - lurid inter-war triptych

Read more...

Prom 41: Ghindin, LPO, Jurowski review - perfect sound in a Russian spectacular

Read more...

Prom 40: Hough, OAE, Fischer review - pretty royal things

Read more...

Prom 37: The Childhood of Christ, Hallé, Pascal/ Prom 38: Bach Cantatas, Solomon's Knot reviews - holy radiance great and small

Read more...

theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2019 - super-orchestra, top clarinettists, transcendent strings

Read more...

Prom 34: Argerich, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Barenboim review - erratic star, sleek ensemble

Read more...

Prom 15: Bavarian RSO, Nézet-Séguin review - perfect Beethoven, nuanced Shostakovich

Read more...

Prom 12: Benedetti, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Wigglesworth - adrenalin highs and string sound to die for

Read more...

theartsdesk in Dalarna: Rhinegold in a Swedish barn by a lake

Read more...

L'Arlesiana, Opera Holland Park review - at last, a rare Italian gem

Read more...

War and Peace, Welsh National Opera, Royal Opera House - bold epic weakened by loosely-directed characterisations

Read more...

theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2019 - in heaven with Dante's Purgatorio and Estonian rites

Read more...

Peter Gynt, National Theatre review - towering protagonist, middle-way production

Read more...

Pages

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Works and Days, Edinburgh International Festival 2025 review...

With the sheer density of theatrical creations jostling for attention across...

Eight Postcards from Utopia review - ads from the era when 1...

If you saw it blind, with no information about its origins, Eight Postcards from Utopia might look like 70 minutes of outtakes...

Music Reissues Weekly: The Final Solution - Just Like Gold

The booklet coming with Just Like Gold - Live At The Matrix frequently refers to the band as “The Solution.” It will be...

Every Brilliant Thing, @sohoplace review - return of the com...

The Fringe piece Duncan Macmillan devised with Jonny Donahoe in 2014 has since been round the world and back, finally landing in the...

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews - Lily Phillips / Ayoade Bamgb...

Lily Phillips, Monkey Barrel ★★★★

Lily Phillips is keen to tell us at the top of her...

The Kingdom review - coming of age as the body count rises

The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree is the bitter message of The Kingdom. Director and co-writer...

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Rambert, Sa...

If you have never watched a single episode of the BBC period gangster drama Peaky Blinders, I am not sure what you would make...

Mogwai / Lankum, South Facing Festival review - rich atmosph...

Running as part of the South Facing Festival in Crystal Palace Bowl, Thursday’s headliners, Mogwai, and their friends across the water, Lankum,...

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews: The Beautiful Future is Comin...

The Beautiful Future is Coming, Traverse Theatre ...