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Portrait of the artist: Antonio Pappano, conductor
'It's very easy to point your finger at expensive opera seats – but just think what going to the football costs'Were you a musical child?Not extravagantly so. I started piano lessons when I was six,...
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Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; Secular Cantatas – review
Netrebko/Pizzolato/ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra/Pappano(DG)Before the period instrument revolution, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater was often treated as a diva vehicle, and the...
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Proms take a bit of William Tell
Bringing William Tell, Rossini's last and longest opera, to the Proms has been an enjoyable challenge for its conductorMy first exposure to Rossini's last opera, William Tell came, like most people's,...
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Prom 2: William Tell - review
Royal Albert Hall, LondonAs Rossinians might complain, the overture to William Tell has always been far more popular than the opera it precedes. Sheer practicality – over three hours of music, a large...
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Rossini: William Tell – review
Byström/Osborn/Finley/Cigni/Orchestra and Chorus of the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano (EMI, 3CDs)Antonio Pappano and his Academia di Santa Cecilia forces scored a notable success with...
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Il Trittico – review
Royal Opera House, LondonThe Royal Opera ended last season with two Puccini revivals distinguished by superb conducting – Andris Nelsons's in Madama Butterfly and Antonio Pappano's in Tosca– and the...
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Mahler: Symphony No 6: Philharmonia Orchestra/Salonen; Orchestra...
(Signum Classics/EMI)Two live recordings of this gargantuan symphony – the "Tragic" – from two fine orchestras and two top conductors: how to choose? Both give electrifying performances and both place...
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A life in music: Antonio Pappano
'There seems to be a need for a front man for opera and classical music. To get people excited about them is a huge opportunity'This year's BBC Christmas treats for opera lovers will be prepared and...
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Review: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Royal Opera House
It could have been a long night, but thanks to a fine cast and newly knighted Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera's high-wire Meistersinger flew byEvery opera production is a high-wire act. Will it sound...
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Mahler: Symphony No 6 – review
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano(EMI, 2 CDs)Antonio Pappano opted to mark the recent Mahler anniversaries in Rome rather than in London, which was the UK's loss and Italy's...
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LSO/Pappano – review
Warwick Arts Centre, CoventryThere was an all-English, all 20th-century programme for Antonio Pappano's latest guest appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra, in which Elgar's First Symphony was...
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Les Troyens; Le nozze di Figaro; Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Dudamel –...
Royal Opera House, London; Glyndebourne, east Sussex; Royal Festival Hall, LondonMen and supermen, aristocratic women and suicidal Trojan Wags, ancient Carthage, modern Venezuela, a pre-Columbian...
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Das Rheingold/Die Walküre – review
Royal Opera House, LondonA dot of light expands to devour the darkness; the waters of the Rhine surge and heave; primal rumblings rise up from the pit, itself in blackout as the music starts. Covent...
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Julius Caesar; Siegfried – review
Coliseum; Royal Opera House, London; Schiller theatre, BerlinWhen a staging of a Handel opera fails, however comprehensively, the music wins out. Thank heaven for large mercies. English National...
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From Hare to Hytner: leading cultural figures oppose the EBacc
Antony Gormley, Jez Butterworth, Mark Wallinger and other artists, playwrights and leading cultural figures look back on the experiences that inspired them as children and reflect on the dangers of...
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Otello; The Minotaur – review
Opera North, Leeds; Royal Opera House, LondonHuman jealousy and the curse of love. A mythical creature and the absence of love. Verdi's Otello and Harrison Birtwistle's The Minotaur stand in stark...
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Don Carlo; Gods and Heroes – review
Royal Opera House, London; All Saints, EastbourneIn Verdi's four-and-a-half-hour opera Don Carlo, one moment captures its essence. The Grand Inquisitor, blind and venomous, totters into the study of...
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Proms take a bit of William Tell
Bringing William Tell, Rossini's last and longest opera, to the Proms has been an enjoyable challenge for its conductorMy first exposure to Rossini's last opera, William Tell came, like most people's,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Prom 2: William Tell - review
Royal Albert Hall, LondonAs Rossinians might complain, the overture to William Tell has always been far more popular than the opera it precedes. Sheer practicality – over three hours of music, a large...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rossini: William Tell – review
Byström/Osborn/Finley/Cigni/Orchestra and Chorus of the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano (EMI, 3CDs)Antonio Pappano and his Academia di Santa Cecilia forces scored a notable success with...
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