Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 6h

ENO's first ever production of Britten's Albert Herring reviewed by Guy Rickards for the Critics' Circle. A very limited run in London and Salford - catch it while you can.
criticscircle.org.uk/modesty-mora...

Modesty, morality, and Manchester—Albert Herring finally arrives at ENO, albeit briefly | The Critics' Circle

Eddie Wade and Caspar Singh celebrate Albert’s “coronation”, ENO’s Albert Herring 2025 © Genevieve Girling ENO / Daniel Cohen The Coliseum, London, October 13, 2025 Of Britten’s sixteen operas (if one...

criticscircle.org.uk

2

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Alexandra Coghlan @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social · 1d

What does English National Opera's
Albert Herring tell us about the company's future, its challenges and ambitions? Some thoughts on this cracking show for the I Paper:
inews.co.uk/culture/arts...

ENO takes a risk with its first Manchester show – but it pays off

Britten's Albert Herring is a bold choice to open their new chapter, but this cracker of a show proves the relocation might just come off

inews.co.uk

3 3

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Pullinger @larkingrumple.bsky.social · 2d

A very fine house debut from Marie Jacquot in this excellent Royal Opera Magic Flute revival
My @thetimes.com review is now online:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...

The Magic Flute review — misogyny, Freemasonry and some fine singing

Marie Jacquot makes a splendid Royal Opera House debut conducting a wonderful cast in this delightful Mozart revival

www.thetimes.com

6 4

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 2d

Bizet's Carmen at ENO reviewed by Guy Rickards: criticscircle.org.uk/carmen-is-ba...

Carmen is back—door slams, machismo and great tunes | The Critics' Circle

Niamh O’Sullivan, ENO’s Soldier Chorus, Carmen production photo taken on October 6 2025 at ENO, London Coliseum, © Ellie Kurttz ENO / Clelia Cafiero The Coliseum, London, October 8, 2025 Calixto Bieit...

criticscircle.org.uk

2 3

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 4d

The Royal Opera's new production of Handel's Giustino reviewed by Claudia Pritchard:
criticscircle.org.uk/royal-operas...

Royal Opera's Giustino is just the ticket | The Critics' Circle

Half man, half machine, George Frideric Handel broke off in the autumn of 1736 from the composition of Giustino, three weeks in, to write Alcina, then went back to finish Giustino in five days. Within...

criticscircle.org.uk

1 2

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Peter Quantrill @peterquantrill.bsky.social · 9d

Sakari Oramo guided the BBCSO through a life-affirming Mahler 9 at the Barbican on Saturday - my ★★★★ review for Bachtrack here:
bachtrack.com/22/296/view/...

2 6

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Jessica Duchen @jessicaduchen.bsky.social · 9d

Coming up on Friday: Lara Melda and I tell the story of Myra Hess in the National Gallery, in, what else, a lunchtime concert. We will be in the same space she used, Room 36! Admission freeeeee. Please join us!

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/myra-...

Myra Hess Festival: Lunchtime Concert 2025 - Jessica Duchen and Lara Melda | Events | National Gallery, London

Jessica Duchen, author of Myra Hess – National Treasure, joins forces with the award-winning pianist Lara Melda to tell the inspiring story of Myra Hess and her wartime National Gallery Concerts in wo...

www.nationalgallery.org.uk

1 4 6

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 9d

The Cuore Chamber Orchestra, based in Yorksire, was founded in May by conductor William Dutton. Fiona Hook reviews their most recent concert for the Critics' Circle:
criticscircle.org.uk/cuore-orches...

Cuore Orchestra: Beethoven, Grieg, Mendelssohn | The Critics' Circle

By Fiona Hook Cuore Orchestra / William Dutton, Oxana Shevchenko, piano Royal Hall, Harrogate, Saturday 27 September 2025 Back in March, conductor William Dutton began to fulfil his apparently crazy d...

criticscircle.org.uk

1 2

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Alexandra Coghlan @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social · 9d

Tenderness and intimacy from @etopera.bsky.social new Rape of Lucretia: www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-...

The Rape of Lucretia: intimate and tender

Read our review of The Rape of Lucretia: Robin Norton-Hale’s new production for English Touring Opera pulls the audience close

www.thestage.co.uk

3 6

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Pullinger @larkingrumple.bsky.social · 9d

My review of an intense Rape of Lucretia for English Touring Opera @etopera.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...

The Rape of Lucretia review — thrilling drama in a harrowing tale

Robin Norton-Hale’s intense production for English Touring Opera is a fine ambassador for Benjamin Britten’s ‘problem child’

www.thetimes.com

3 3

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 10d

English National Opera's new production of Rossini's Cinderella reviewed by Guy Rickards for the Critics' Circle:
criticscircle.org.uk/a-cinderella...

A ‘Cinderella for 2025’ that remains rooted in eighteenth century mores | The Critics' Circle

Love at first song: Deepa Johnny, Aaron Godfrey Mayes, ENO’s Cinderella (La Cenerentola) 2025 © Mark Douet-X4 ENO / Yi-Chen Lin The Coliseum, London, September 27, 2025 Despite its faults, La Cenerent...

criticscircle.org.uk

1 2

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Alexandra Coghlan @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social · 12d

"A fascinating experiment" - review of Bushra El-Turk's Oum: A Son's Quest for his Mother @thestage.co.uk www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/oum-...

Oum – A Son’s Quest for His Mother review at the Barbican Hall: Engrossing

Read our review of Oum – A Son’s Quest for His Mother at London's Barbican Hall. Bushra El-Turk and Wout van Tongeren’s opera is never less than engrossing

www.thestage.co.uk

2 6

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Tim Ashley @timashash.bsky.social · 12d

Patricia Routledge, in 1987, singing Take Care of This House from Leonard Bernstein's and Alan Jay Lerner's musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which she created on Broadway in 1976. There will never be anyone like her. RIP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BVC...

PATRICIA ROUTLEDGE 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue "Take Care of This House"

YouTube video by aurora spiderwoman

www.youtube.com

2 7

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Alexandra Coghlan @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social · 13d

Ahead of the Barbican's Arvo Part at 90 exhibition, I explored the blanched sonic world of Estonia's greatest living composer: www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/arvo-pa...

Arvo Pärt at 90 - The Tablet

Who is the world’s most performed living composer? According to statistics, the answer is John Williams: classical music’s commercial king of Hollywood. No

www.thetablet.co.uk

1 6

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 12d

Stefan Herheim’s production of Verdi’s The Sicilian Vespers at the Royal Opera House, reviewed by Claudia Pritchard.
criticscircle.org.uk/the-royal-op...

The Royal Opera's Sicilian Vespers dances back | The Critics' Circle

The cat’s cradle that is Palermo’s history is knottier still in Stefan Herheim’s production of Verdi’s The Sicilian Vespers at the Royal Opera House. The ballet that was necessarily inserted into the ...

criticscircle.org.uk

1

UK Critics' Circle Music @ccmusicuk.bsky.social · 13d

Here's Claudia Pritchard's write up of the Critics' Circle Music Awards 2025:
criticscircle.org.uk/music-awards...

Music Awards 2025, celebrating a year of outstanding achievement | The Critics' Circle

More than 80 leading figures from across Britain’s musical landscape came together at the sparkling Critics’ Circle Music Awards, held at the London Coliseum, a ceremony that honoured musicians who ma...

criticscircle.org.uk

3 6

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Sep 14

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Anton Bruckner’s divisive legacy | The Observer

A capacity Albert Hall crowd walked, biked and bus-battled their way through tube strike London to see the august Vienna Philharmonic perform the compose...

observer.co.uk

2 4

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Pullinger @larkingrumple.bsky.social · Sep 13

A thrusting Daphnis et Chloé brings the BBC Proms Ravel celebrations to a climax
bachtrack.com/review-wilso...

1 9

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Gavin Dixon @saquabote.bsky.social · Sep 13

My profile of composer Elena Firsova in the October issue of Gramophone: www.gramophone.co.uk/features/art...

Contemporary composer: Elena Firsova

Gavin Dixon explores the powerful music of this poetic modernist

www.gramophone.co.uk

1 2 5

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Alexandra Coghlan @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social · Sep 12

The Royal Opera's new Tosca delivers just enough shock without scaring the horses: inews.co.uk/culture/arts...

'Putin's Diva' sparked protests - but she brought star-power to Tosca

The first new staging for almost 20 years brings the shock-factor back to Puccini's opera

inews.co.uk

3 10

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Tim Ashley @timashash.bsky.social · Aug 4

Wounded Angels: Glyndebourne revives Damiano Michieletto's antiseptic, symbolist staging of Kát'a Kabanová. Frankly, it doesn't do it for me as theatre, but it's wonderfully well sung.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

Káťa Kabanová review – furtive groping and a wing-bloodied angel stalk flawed staging of Janáček’s opera

Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic in this finely sung but inconsistent revival of Damiano Michieletto’s 2021 production

www.theguardian.com

2 1 7

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Valencia 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 @markvalencia.bsky.social · Aug 4

My review for @bachtrack.com of a musically splendid KK at Glyndebourne. Oh, but...

Bachtrack @bachtrack.com · Aug 4

An overgrown path to cliché-ville: Glyndebourne revives Damiano Michieletto's Kátya Kabanová
✍️ Mark Valencia
bachtrack.com/review-katya...

Glyndebourne revives Michieletto's Kátya Kabanová

Damiano Michieletto’s production of Janáček’s opera breaks a key tenet of high-concept opera: where it should reveal, it obfuscates.

bachtrack.com

3 8

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Pullinger @larkingrumple.bsky.social · Aug 4

Damiano Michieletto applies the symbolism with a trowel, but fine singing in this Glyndebourne revival of Kat’a Kabanova. My review for The Times:
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...

Kat’a Kabanova review — Glyndebourne’s soprano lives every moment

Feathers flutter and bird cages descend in Damiano Michieletto’s 2021 Janacek staging. But it’s the singing from Katerina Knezikova and Nicky Spence that grips

www.thetimes.com

2 5

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Jessica Duchen @jessicaduchen.bsky.social · Aug 3

Calling all Myra Hess fans: I'm doing a free lecture about her online tomorrow, Monday 4th, for MILIM Leeds. Starts 8pm UK time. Log on here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Myra Hess - National Treasure. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Throughout World War II, Dame Myra Hess, Britain’s greatest concert pianist, ran lunchtime concerts at London’s National Gallery. They became the stuff of legend, proving music’s power to support the ...

us02web.zoom.us

2 2

Reposted by UK Critics' Circle Music

Mark Pullinger @larkingrumple.bsky.social · Aug 1

Cool cat: Martin Fröst purrs at the BBC Proms
bachtrack.com/review-frost...

Cool cat: Martin Fröst purrs at the BBC Proms

The Swedish clarinettist pays tribute to two jazz legends in Joshua Weilerstein's programme that includes Proms debutante, Elsa Barraine, and Rachmaninov.

bachtrack.com

3 7