‘War and Peace’: The Cardinall’s Musick at Howard Assembly Room, Friday 15 Feb 2019
A programme combining dark and light, war and peace, and old and modern makes for an evening of memorable music. The Cardinall’s Musick—named after Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, hence the early modern spelling—consists of eight voices (two sopranos, altos, tenors, basses) and conductor Patrick Craig. As the house lights dim, the group enters the stage and […]
In Conversation With Katie Bray and Alexander Sprague
Charles Eager talks to mezzo-soprano Katie Bray (Varvara) and tenor Alexander Sprague (Vanya Kudryash) about their appearance in Opera North’s current production of Janacek’s Katya Kabanova. Topics include family names, the story and meaning of Janacek’s opera, what the various implications are of singing in Czech or English, what goes into learning and staging an opera […]
Fitzwilliam String Quartet at Howard Assembly Room on 7 February
An excellent concert for lovers of Shostakovich, and a very good one for everyone else. Whilst I was vaguely aware prior to this evening that there was something in existence named the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, I couldn’t boast that I possessed any greater knowledge than merely this on the subject. After this evening’s concert, I […]
Janacek’s Katya Kabanova, Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre on 2 Feb 2019
Sex, sanctity, and sin clash in this three-act, thought-provoking production, each act marked by an orchestral overture. The first Act begins rich with prolepsis and prefiguration. From the first bars we can tell that the opera is placing us in a tragic world, and that the title character, Katya, is not likely to have a […]
Catriona Morison at Howard Assembly Room 31 January
Catriona Morison sings Brahms, Schumann, Mahler, and Korngold, accompanied by Joseph Middleton at Howard Assembly Room, 31 Jan 2019 – An impressive, very warmly received, and at times transcendent recital of German song When I read that in 2017 mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison had won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Main Prize (as well as […]
