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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · 1d

Just arrived - our 6 Nov . congratulations to Hannah French

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · 6d

observer.co.uk/culture/the-...

Manchester Collective’s works of life, death and the divine

The virtuosic string ensemble explored these ambitious themes through ideas of memory

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · 12d

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

Oliver Leith’s Garland – a horse, a car park, and a night...

The young composer’s inventive new work at Peckham’s Bold Tendencies is unlike anything but itself. Plus, an epic Verdi boasts a starry cast

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · 19d

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

Anna Netrebko electrifies in a controversial Tosca

Music and politics meet in a stripped-back Puccini in Jakub Hrůsä’s ROH debut. Plus, Antonio Pappano launches his LSO season with a big-scale double bill

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · 26d

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

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Reposted by Fiona Maddocks

Mark Berry @boulezian.bsky.social · Sep 8

Delighted to receive my contributor’s copy of this new book, published by @universitypress.cambridge.org.

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Sep 7

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

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is a highlight of th...

Cue poisoned mushrooms and fierce satire as the BBC Phil and ENO join forces in Shostakovich’s denounced opera

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Aug 31

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

Lucerne’s musical bonanza | The Observer

Simon Rattle conducts the Swiss festival’s dazzling orchestra in his debut appearance

observer.co.uk

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Reposted by Fiona Maddocks

Jessica Duchen @jessicaduchen.bsky.social · Aug 24

Doing an actual National Gallery lunchtime concert with the wonderful Lara Melda! 10 October, anniversary of Myra Hess’s first concert there in 1939.
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

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Aug 24

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

An elegy for Ukraine | The Observer

At the hour of Trump and Putin’s Alaska summit, Shostakovich’s Babi Yar proved a poignant choice at the Proms. Plus, Studio Ghibli’s composer Joe Hisaish...

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Aug 10

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

The restless poetry of Kát’a Kabanová | The Observer

A divisive staging of Janáček’s domestic opera rounds off Glyndebourne festival by trapping the audience in the mind of its unhappy heroine

observer.co.uk

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Reposted by Fiona Maddocks

Wigmore Hall @wigmore-hall.org.uk · Jul 28

Everybody at Wigmore Hall is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Amelia Freedman. She was associated with the Hall for more than 60 years, and was the inspirational Artistic Director of the Nash Ensemble. We salute her legacy, and send sympathy to all who mourn her loss.

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Jul 27

Yes!

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Jul 27

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

A spectacular series of firsts at the Proms | The Observer

A trio of world premieres saw this season begin in bravura style

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Jul 20

observer.co.uk/music/classi... Fiona Maddocks | The Observer Buxton double bill and an unforgettable LSO Salome

Leonard Bernstein’s opera of suburbia | The Observer

Plus: Strauss’s ever-shocking masterpiece Salome brings the London Symphony Orchestra season at the Barbican to a close

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Jul 20

observer.co.uk/music/classi... Mark Simpson: ‘When I perform I’m like a shaman’. On his new piece ZEBRA and other things

Mark Simpson: ‘When I perform I’m like a shaman’

The composer on transcending reality, and his working-class background, through classical music

observer.co.uk

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Fiona Maddocks @fionahmaddocks.bsky.social · Jul 15

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

‘The perfect accompaniment to life’: why is a 12th-century nun the hottest name in experimental music?

A mystic who turned visions into beautiful chants, Hildegard von Bingen has inspired everyone from Grimes to David Lynch. Musicians including Julia Holter explain the hold she has on them

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Fiona Maddocks

Richard Ovenden @richove.bsky.social · Jul 13

So grateful to @timadamswrites.bsky.social and the brilliant team @theobserveruk.bsky.social for giving such prominence to my piece on libraries in Trump’s America this weekend. Will never lose the thrill of seeing my work in print - especially with Lisa Sheehan’s amazing front cover art!