Mark Elder
Bristol’s new concert hall is extremely fine
Bristol has a new concert hall, and it’s rather good. The transformation of the old Colston Hall into the Bristol…
In defence of the earworm
That strain again… it’s the morning after the concert and one tune is still there, playing in the head upon…
Inspired programming and a proper celebration: Barbican's Beethoven Weekender reviewed
Beethoven wears a feather boa and pink shades. He wrangles an electric guitar. A red lightning flash streaks across that…
The early death of Lili Boulanger is the most grievous of all among composers
Total immersion weekends can prove tricky. The established masters don’t need them, while lesser-known figures often turn out to be…
The National Youth Orchestra showed that they’re the equal of any professional band
Everyone knows — don’t they? — that the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain is the UK’s youngest world-class symphony…
Unlikely to win converts: Royal Opera's L'Étoile reviewed
It’s widely agreed that the most difficult form of opera to bring off is operetta, whether of the Austro-German or…
Royal Opera’s Idomeneo: get seats but make sure they’re facing away from the stage
Mozart’s first great opera, Idomeneo, is not often performed, and perhaps it’s better that way. It should be seen as…
Robo-Tell hits Welsh National Opera
Is there a fundamental, insuperable problem with staging Rossini’s Guillaume Tell on a budget, without the resources to conjure up…
Keith Warner's Wozzeck doesn't make me as angry as it used to
When Keith Warner’s production of Berg’s Wozzeck was first produced at the Royal Opera, nine years ago, it made me…
Mark Elder and the Hallé surpassed any other account of Parsifal that Michael Tanner has heard
The Proms season of Wagner operas — pity they didn’t do them all; Die Meistersinger would have been specially welcome,…
