Classical Reviews
Doctor Atomic, ENOTuesday, 23 June 2009
Among the most astonishing moments in John Adams's new opera Doctor Atomic (currently running at the English National Opera) is an aria at the end of the first act. The eponymous brains behind the Manhattan Project, Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer, stands alone on stage with his new creation, a spherical A-bomb coated in wires and tubes like a patient in intensive care, and sings John Donne's holy sonnet "Batter my heart, three-person'd God". Read more... |
Pages
inside classical music
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Blu-ray: The Hop-Pickers
Czech theatre theorist Ivo Osolsobě’s tick-list for what constitutes an "authentic" musical is quoted in this release’s booklet. Namely that the...
Liepe, National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, NCH, Dublin revi...
There’s nothing like an anodyne new(ish) work to give a masterpiece an even higher profile. Rachel Portman‘s Tipping Points, promising to...
Albums of the Year 2024: Chihei Hatakeyama & Shun Ishiwa...
A gem for me this year has been the collaborative project between the veteran minimalist composer Chihei Hatakeyama and jazz...
Music Reissues Weekly: American Baroque - Chamber Pop and Be...
The descending refrain opening the song isn’t unusual but attention is instantly attracted as it’s played on a harpsichord. Equally instantly, an...
Nickel Boys review - a soulful experiment
RaMell Ross’s feature debut follows his poetic documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018) in again observing black...
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Sky Atlantic review - Colin F...
The destruction of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988 was one of the ghastliest events in what would become known as the War on...
Albums of the Year 2024: The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to...
Does absolutely everything have to get more difficult with each passing year? Apparently so. The amount of time I’ve spent deciding which of the...
Davis, National Symphony Orchestra, Maloney, National Concer...
In one sense it was a New Year’s Day “nearly”, just stopping short of giving us the already great Irish lyric-dramatic soprano Jennifer Davis in...
Albums of the Year 2024: Mk.gee - Two Star and the Dream Pol...
Mk.gee has been an unexpected thread in a year of music that’s pulled me in many different directions, punctuating the need for unique, sonically...