another year, another Connolly Fest done – every year around October or so, there’s a blurry of Dame Sarah related activity. This year was a near repeat of the last – Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in London and a Lieder Festival concert in Oxford – with an added bonus of an opera, Wagner’s … More Lately
I’m holidaying in Finland, which is at the moment hot, humid and exhausting – England was hot too, but at least the nights were cool, which they decidedly are not in here. It’s been a busy few days; after the exhibition ended and all the regular summer activities were over, I had about a week … More Pilgrimages II
What a long silence it’s been. Between the last post and now, I have gone through illness and health scare, and through a spell of just general sort of fatigue. I also already in March made the decision to not to photograph any of the things I usually photograph (as a part of the annual … More Pilgrimages
This is the look of disappointment – a blizzard in March. On a Friday, when big, exciting plans involving traveling to London were in place, but had to be abandoned because of the five days of back winter carnage. Still, in Oxford we were lucky; in some parts of the country people are still without … More Lately
It’s been a while. In fact, it’s been a whole month since I even looked at this blog. I haven’t gone away though – it just so happens that December is always rather busy. And I’m good at wasting time – for example, I spent one whole weekend painting Nutcracker illustrations, with results that I … More This year
After the gloriously busy first week of half term, the second was quieter and spent largely preparing for a surgery I had three weeks ago; it got rescheduled meaning I missed Andrei Bondarenko’s recital at the Lieder Festival. I did catch Roderick Williams singing Die Schöne Müllerin in Saint John the Evangelist, which is one … More Lately
It’s been one of those mad glorious weeks that tend to roll around once or twice a year, filled with goodies of every kind. Thursday week ago I saw a fab concert performance of Rameau’s Dardanus by the English Touring Opera at the Sheldonian. As it happens, this is my only opera this autumn – … More Lately
This is a tough one – what could I possibly write about Sarah Connolly that was neither too personal nor too fawning, nor like a slightly creepy love letter? It wasn’t always quite like that – my first conscious memory of Sarah (if I may) is hearing her sing Dido’s lament on ClassicFM (my landlady’s … More In praise of… Sarah Connolly
As luck and coincidence would have it, I’m seeing two operas based on a Shakespeare play back to back this summer. This past Saturday, I went to Glyndebourne to see the Australian composer Brett Dean’s Hamlet, and on Sunday, I’m seeing Verdi’s Otello (yes, with That Tenor) at the Royal Opera. The Glyndebourne trip was … More Tonight at the opera: Shakespeare edition, vol. 1
I have a thing for 20th/21st century opera – the first opera I consciously remember choosing to see was Giancarlo Menotti’s The Consul, and I have found myself loving Turnage’s Anna Nicole, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and pretty much everything by Benjamin Britten. Thomas Adés’ The Exterminating Angel (which premiered last year in Salzburg Festspiele, … More Last night at the opera
Shakespeare for absolute beginners 