Britten from Monaco

Posted on February 24, 2026 by operaramblings

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Monaco and their conductor Lawrence Foster recently recorded a collection of Britten works to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the composer’s death. It’s a bit of an odd mix but it’s nicely done. The first piece is The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This was composed for a commission by the British Ministry of Education to accompany an educational film for schools showcasing the various instruments of the orchestra. I find it hard to imagine that happening now. Anyway, it’s performed here, as it often is, without narration. It’s quite a sprightly and satisfying performance. Continue reading →

Daughters of Donbas – CD Launch and film screening

Posted on February 22, 2026 by operaramblings

On Friday evening I attended the CD launch for Daughters of Donbas’ new album Songs of Stolen Children at the Tranzac. Let me try and provide some context. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has now been going on for four years and, of course, before that, in 2014, Russia seized the Crimea and territories in the Donbas. The Russians are determined, as they have been since the 18th century, to erase Ukraine as a separate polity and write Ukrainian culture out of the historical record (as they have done with others such as the Crimean Tartars). A relatively recent step in this campaign is the kidnapping of over 20,000 Ukrainian children who have been deported to “re-education” camps in Russia where, cut off from their families, they are trained to be good little Russians. Parallels with events closer to home are a bit obvious. Daughters of the Donbas is a band and a project dedicated to keeping this issue alive. Continue reading →

Intriguing recital album from Laura Choi Stuart

Posted on February 21, 2026 by operaramblings

Rituals combines songs by Charles Ives, Reynaldo Hahn and William Bolcom around a theme of “living the good life”. The eight Ives songs set texts either by himself or by 19th century English poets in a characteristically Ivesian way. There are folksy bits and hymn tunes (a setting of Arnold’s “West London”) plus some crazy loud piano (“Paracelsus”). Laura Choi Stuart sings them idiomatically and clearly with excellent accompaniment by Tanya Blaich. It’s a vision of the good life rooted in community and collective memory. Continue reading →

December

Posted on February 15, 2026 by operaramblings

The sound track of Essential Opera’s on-line video of Monica Pearce’s COVID era opera December has now been issued as a CD. You can read my review at La Scena Musicale.

Boulanger’s La ville morte

Posted on February 9, 2026 by operaramblings

My review of Catapult Opera’s recording of Nadia Boulanger’s La ville morte is now available at La Scena Musicale.

Wallis Giunta sings Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins

Posted on February 7, 2026 by operaramblings

My review of the recent CD of Weill works including The Seven Deadly Sins with Wallis Giunta as Anna I and II is now published at La Scena Musicale.

Lise Davidsen at the Met

Posted on January 27, 2026 by operaramblings

Soprano Lise Davidsen recently gave a recital at the Metropolitan Opera with pianist James Baillieu. The live recording of that gig is now being released by Decca in various formats. My gut reaction was to think that a piano recital at the Met is not such a great idea but the recording turns out to be terrific.

It starts out with a couple of opera arias, There’s a powerful but very beautiful account of “Vissi d’arte” and a very stylish account of “Morrò, ma prima in grazia” from Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. In this one she shows some interesting colours as well as terrific, clean, high notes. Continue reading →

Zanetto

Posted on January 3, 2026 by operaramblings

Pietro Mascagni is really remembered for only one opera; the one act Cavalleria Rusticana, which was sufficiently successful for its composer to be considered for a while a probable successor to Puccini as the next “great Italian opera composer”. That didn’t happen of course and the only other of his works to get even occasional stagings are L’amico Fritz. and Iris though he wrote a total of fifteen. Now there’s a recording of his one act opera Zanetto which was made at a live, semi-staged performance in Berlin in June 2022. Continue reading →

Shostakovich from the Leningrad Philharmonic

Posted on December 23, 2025 by operaramblings

Back when I was first getting acquainted with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich perhaps the most widely available recordings of the symphonies were the ones by the Leningrad Philharmonic conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky on the Melodiya label. They were quite distinctive; blaring brass, and in some ways sounding rather crude. Was that what the conductor/composer wanted? Was that how the orchestra played? Or was it an artefact of the recordings? As many of them are now available in various remasters from assorted labels I could dig a bit bit deeper and maybe I will but meanwhile what has come my way is a remastered release from two concerts the Leningrad Philharmonic; conducted by Arvids Jansons (father of Maris), gave in London in September 1971 and which were broadcast on the BBC.

Continue reading →

C’est nous les dieux, ni yw y duwiau

Posted on December 15, 2025 by operaramblings

HORIZON:MADOG is a new chamber opera with music by Paul Frehner and a trilingual libretto by Angela J. Murphy. In a not too distant future where the world has been devastated by flooding and electro-magnetic storms, Madog; a descendant of the legendary Welsh prince, leads a movement for a more eco-friendly, less tech dependent future. He hears (scratchily) a radio broadcast from Wales promising, essentially, a tech fix, which he regards with scorn, and, in his dreams, his ancestor urging him to action. A plan emerges. Continue reading →

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