The Rest of November (in the UK!)

MUSIC
Bryn Terfel showcased his new album ‘Bad Boys’ at the RFH. Part of me would have liked more opera arias and less numbers from musicals, and more of Bryn with less orchestral pieces, but in the end I was won over by the accessibility and populism he aims at and achieves and his rapport and warmth [...]

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The Rest of June

OPERA
At the Guildhall School of Music & Drama there was a pairing of Martinu and  Rossini one-act comic operas. I love these Guildhall opera evenings – always value and often a treat. I wasn’t mad keen on the music of the Martinu though I liked the production and performances (particularly Nicky Spence). The Rossini, an [...]

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The Rest of May

OPERA & CLASSICAL MUSIC
Handel’s Giustino, one of his 42 operas!, was given a very rare performance by Trinity College of Music in Wren’s wonderful Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich. The staging was a bit hit-and-miss but the singing was terrific. The venue has great acoustics and a wonderful atmosphere, but the pews proved a [...]

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The Rest of March

MUSIC & OPERA
Only two operas and an oratorio in a musically lean two months! Dr Atomic at ENO would have been a much better opera if he’d cut it by 30 mins (especially in the more static first half). I liked the design and staging, the music is accessible and there are some very good [...]

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The Rest of November

A lot of dance this month, starting with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Stravinsky triple bill. Petrushka was a bit of a museum piece and in The Firebird they allowed the spectacle to overtake the ballet (but the music’s always lovely), so it was the newer production, Le Baiser de la feu which we enjoyed most; the [...]

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To Be Straight With You

It’s a welcome initiative to make a show about the homophobic excesses of other minorities – those that consider themselves persucuted persecuting others.
It blends terrifying verbatim stories with stylised movement. It’s not DV8’s best work, but it’s an important subject handled well with a few terrific moments. I’d have liked as much dance / movement as is [...]

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West Side Story

22nd October at the New Ambassadors Theatre, Wimbledon
 

Well, the second visit in Wimbledon was a mistake! Sad to say it has lost much of its sparkle.
 
The new touring cast are at best under-rehearsed and at worst under-cast. It feels cramped on the New Ambassadors stage, the dancing is a lot less slick and the orchestra [...]

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in-i

Acting meets dance in what may be a vanity project, but somewhat surprisingly tells a story in a unique way and holds the attention for its 60 minute running time.
Unlike the pointless experimentation of Katie Mitchell on the same stage, this one seems just about worth the effort. But is it what the National is [...]

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The Rest of September

I took the opportunity of a slow start to business post holiday season to catch a lot more culture than just theatre this month and here’s a summary.
The Art highlight was Seizure. Artist Roger Hiorns sealed up a disused ground floor flat, drilled a hole in the ceiling, filled it with a copper sulphate solution [...]

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Dorian Gray

This isn’t Matthew Bourne’s best work, but there is much to enjoy.
The updating of the story works surprisingly  well. A waiter is spotted by an advertising executive and becomes the face of a new fragrance. As he rises in celebrity he descends in integrity, ultimately leading to murder.
It’s a  dark work and the choreography of the intimate scenes, where Bourne [...]

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