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Barry Millington

Opera

Werther at the Royal Opera House: superstar Jonas Kaufmann is eclipsed

The German tenor reverted to little more than a half-voice croon for much of the show

Jun 21, 2023
Opera

Dialogues des Carmélites at Glyndebourne: enthralling and timely

Never has Poulenc’s masterpiece seemed so searingly a work of our time

Jun 12, 2023
Opera

Rigoletto at Opera Holland Park: busting convention with a female gaze

Cecilia Stinton’s new staging provides fresh insight into this problematic canon opera

May 31, 2023
Opera

Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne & Wozzeck at the ROH kick off the season

A pair of nuanced and contemporary reimaginings

May 23, 2023
Music

LPO/Gardner, RFH: Brett Dean’s premiere showed a right royal row

This new work by the orchestra’s composer-in-residence oscillated between the dramatic and the contemplative

Apr 27, 2023
Opera

Innocence at the ROH review: school shooting opera is devastating

This extraordinarily powerful and disturbing opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is making its UK debut

Apr 18, 2023
Opera

The Dead City at the London Coliseum: almost unbearably poignant

Korngold’s virtuoso score has all the jewel-like glitter of Strauss’s Salome with a lyrical flow to match Puccini

Mar 27, 2023
Music

CBSO/Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla at the Barbican review: bright and edgy

Gražinytė-Tyla’s whiplash rhythms served the pieces well

Mar 17, 2023
Music

Handel the Philanthropist at Barbican Hall review: stirring stuff

It may not be top-drawer Handel but this performance still set it alight

Mar 1, 2023
Opera

Rusalka at the Royal Opera review: a superb cast with no weak links

Ann Yee and Natalie Abrahami’s new production reframes the story as being about the despoliation of nature

Feb 22, 2023
Opera

The Rhinegold at the Coliseum: a visual feast but the dish needs work

The blazing fusion of music and drama is only kindled in the closing stages

Feb 20, 2023
Opera

Tannhäuser at the Royal Opera House: well-sung, but sadly inert

Conceived for a specific singer, this staging doesn’t best serve anyone

Feb 8, 2023
Music

Yunchan Lim at Wigmore Hall: is he the Lang Lang of his generation?

We’re at the start of something special, and the audience knew it

Jan 19, 2023
Music

Our new show Brünnhilde’s Dream: from Wagnerian icon to everywoman

Wotan’s daughter isn’t the most obvious person to speak for the sisterhood, but this new music production gives her a new voice

Jan 18, 2023
Opera

A Child in Striped Pyjamas at the Cockpit review - harrowing drama

This operatic adaptation of the controversial Holocaust tale is given a simple yet effective staging

Jan 13, 2023
Music

A Child of our Time, LPO/Gardner at the Royal Festival Hall: inspired

These two pieces are rarely played together but it turned out to work perfectly

Nov 28, 2022
Opera

Alcina at the Royal Opera House review: spellbinding and unmissable

An endlessly inventive staging of Handel’s gloriously tuneful opera

Nov 9, 2022
Music

An Anatomy of Melancholy at the Barbican: deeply moving

Nobody articulated the essence of melancholy better than John Dowland, and nobody could give it more eloquent voice than countertenor Iestyn Davies

Oct 31, 2022
Music

Haydn’s The Seasons, AAM at the Barbican: an exhilarating performance

The composer himself was sniffy about this oratorio but he’d have been delighted by this thrilling performance of the work

Oct 5, 2022
Opera

Tosca - ENO at the London Coliseum: a thrilling vision of liberation

Christof Loy’s production is immediate and inspiring

Oct 3, 2022
Music

BBC Proms 2022: Bach’s B Minor Mass, OAE/Butt review - heavenly

A fine performance of this piece can provide spiritual uplift to believers and unbelievers alike

Aug 30, 2022