In dialogue with Mozart: composer's violin brought back to life
Christoph Koncz has used gut-stringed baroque instrument to record Mozart’s violin concertosWhen he first dared ask the keepers of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s violin if he might be allowed to try it out,...
View ArticleMozart's Requiem: It's about life, not death
A performance of Mozart’s choral masterpiece marks English National Opera’s return to the Coliseum. Its artistic director explains why the composer’s last work, written as he drew his final breaths, is...
View ArticleThe Snow Ball by Brigid Brophy review – a swirling, sensual feast
This timely reissue of Brophy’s 1964 masterpiece transports us to a New Year’s Eve masquerade ball full of romance and eroticism Facing a holiday season without the usual parties is going to be tough,...
View ArticleLa Clemenza di Tito review – delight to be back, but modern-dress production...
Royal Opera House, LondonRichard Jones’s eagerly-anticipated new production of Mozart’s opera seria has moments of insight but overall too many incongruities, but there is much to enjoy musically,...
View ArticleThe Marriage of Figaro review – acute, witty and handsome, plus pom-poms
Opera Holland Park, LondonOliver Platt’s anachronistic take on Mozart’s comedy works well in OHP’s opening production, with superb ensemble performancesIf you go to Opera Holland Park this summer, you...
View Article‘They deserve a place in history’: music teacher makes map of female composers
Interactive tool features more than 500 women who are often forgotten in the classical music worldTwo siblings, both considered child prodigies, dazzled audiences across Europe together in the 18th...
View ArticleDiversity, dialogue – and a prankster bassoon: how Mozart speaks for us all
The piano concertos, like his operas, are where you get to meet Mozart himself. And what you find is a man who sought to disrupt privilege and let us see the world through the eyes of othersWhen I was...
View ArticleOn my radar: Roberto Saviano’s cultural highlights
The investigative journalist and author of Gomorrah on the delights of Mozart, the restorative tranquility of Andalusia and a lifelong love of SubbuteoRoberto Saviano is an Italian author best known...
View ArticleDoes practice make perfect?
Prodigies such as Emma Raducanu spend thousands of hours honing their skills, but could anyone deliver a world-class performance with enough dedication?At the end of every edition of his children’s TV...
View ArticleDon Giovanni review – strong cast ensure WNO’s revival stands the test of time
Wales Millennium Centre, CardiffAndrei Kymach as the dashing don leads an impressive cast in Welsh National Opera’s atmospheric but uneven revival of John Caird’s productionDownright deceit, charm,...
View ArticleThe week in classical: Così fan tutte; Czech Philharmonic/CBSO Chorus/Bychkov
Coliseum, London; Barbican, LondonENO’s fizzy production of Mozart’s masterpiece lands well in dark times, while a Czech performance of Janáček and Dvořák summons life-affirming spiritWhen Phelim...
View ArticleA.I.M. by Kyle Abraham review – a genre-defying picture of life and hope
Sadler’s Wells, LondonThe rightly revered US choreographer returns with an enigmatic piece that blends Mozart with Afrofuturism and feels experimental but authentic Very few choreographers can move so...
View ArticleAnne Howells obituary
Opera singer with a remarkable theatrical presence once described as ‘the Cleopatra of the lyric stage’The mezzo-soprano Anne Howells, who has died aged 81, was much loved and admired by audiences and...
View ArticleRoger Norrington: ‘I’ve been trying to play Mozart for 60 years. On this, my...
Mozart’s sublime music is deceptively difficult to play. Conductor Roger Norrington explains how the composer’s own father helped rewire brains and eradicate wobbleWho was it who said that two of the...
View ArticleThe week in classical: The Marriage of Figaro; Mahler Symphony No 8 review –...
Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex; Royal Albert Hall, LondonMozart’s divine comedy is a shimmering feast, while Mahler’s epic symphony, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, brings redemption to a packed Royal...
View ArticleSlaves to the rhythm: rats can’t resist a good beat, researchers say
Study finds rats instinctively move in time to music – an ability previously thought to be uniquely humanMusic makes you lose control, Missy Elliott once sang on a hit that is almost impossible to hear...
View ArticleThe Magic Flute review – well-behaved revival needs more of Mozart’s anarchic...
Royal Opera House, LondonThere are strong performances, particularly from Gyula Orendt’s Papageno and Sarah Dufresne’s Papagena, but the fun is damped down in David McVicar’s 2003 staging that imposes...
View ArticleMichael Sheen on art, fear and Amadeus: ‘David Suchet was in really good...
His breakthrough role was as a young Mozart in Peter Hall’s Amadeus, opposite Suchet’s Salieri. Twenty-three years later, Sheen returns to the play for Sydney Opera House – this time as Mozart’s...
View ArticleThe Magic Flute review – WNO’s hectic new version is a lightsaber too far
Wales Millennium Centre, CardiffDaisy Evans’ psychedelic and frantic modern reworking dodges the original’s problems, but loses much of Mozart’s magic and energy in the process – and the flute...
View ArticleOAE/Bezuidenhout review – on an exemplary Mozart journey
Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonWith Kristian Bezuidenhout conducting from the fortepiano, this was a genial celebration of three works written in the year 1784Mozart on the Road is the title of a pair of...
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