Articles

An Interview with Iestyn Davies
Melanie Eskenazi talks to the countertenor Iestyn Davies, currently at English National Opera (until 12 November) in Handel’s Partenope… Countertenors seem to create strong emotions in their audiences – ladies...
Feature Review – Martinů: The Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra [Matoušek … Hogwood … Hyperion]
Volume 1 Martinů Concerto for flute, violin and orchestra, H252 Duo concertante for two violins and orchestra, H264 Concerto in D for two violins and orchestra, H329 Bohuslav Matoušek (violin),...
Some thoughts on the genesis of Brahms’s First Serenade
Joel Lazar’s note (written in January 2007) on Brahms’s Serenade No.1… Brahms originally conceived the D-major Serenade in the summer of 1858 as a nonet for strings and winds, in...
Kings Place: The Opening Festival
Wednesday 1 October 2008 Concerts 1-3, Kings Place Hall One, London Endymion [Nancy Ruffer (flute), Melinda Maxwell (oboe), Mark Van Der Wiel (clarinet), Stephen Stirling (horn), Michael Dussek (piano), Krysia...
Sixty Glorious Years: The Career of John Copley [Royal Opera’s La bohème, 11-18 October 2008]
The latest revival of John Copley’s production of La bohème at Covent Garden also marks his sixtieth anniversary of working for The Royal Opera. Mansel Stimpson talks to him… It...
Kings Place at King’s Cross
The first new concert hall to open in London in 25 years gets underway on Wednesday 1 October. Michael Darvell reports on a magnificent new arts complex at King’s Cross…...
Horst Stein 1928-2008
Horst Stein was one of the last conductors of the generation who learned their craft in the opera houses of post-War Germany, working his way upwards without flamboyance or the...
Vernon ‘Tod’ Handley 1930-2008
As with most music lovers of my generation I suppose I first encountered Vernon Handley’s name in the early 1960s through his pioneering record of Bax’s Fourth Symphony with the...
Cavalli’s Advocate: Ivor Bolton [Royal Opera’s La Calisto, 23 September-10 October]
As Covent Garden stages Cavalli’s La Calisto for the first time, Mansel Stimpson talks to conductor Ivor Bolton about his enthusiasm for this work and for much else besides… Anyone...
A Dream Come True: Eva-Maria Westbroek [Royal Opera’s La fanciulla del West, 16-29 September]
The Dutch soprano explains to Mansel Stimpson why her appearance in Covent Garden’s La fanciulla del West has special significance for her… When Eva-Maria Westbroek learnt that she was going...
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