mon 22/09/2025

David Nice

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Bio
The classical music and opera editor of theartsdesk, David writes, lectures and broadcasts on music. A former music critic for The Guardian and The Sunday Correspondent, he has made regular appearances on BBC Radio 3, not least in the long-running series Building a Library. He has written short studies on Elgar, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and the history of opera, and is currently working on the second volume of his Prokofiev biography for Yale University Press. He runs two Zoom lecture series, Opera in Depth on Mondays and a symphonies course on Thursdays.

Articles By David Nice

Jansen, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - profound and bracing emotional workouts

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Jakub Hrůša and Friends in Concert, Royal Opera review - fleshcreep in two uneven halves

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The Weir, Harold Pinter Theatre review - evasive fantasy, bleak truth and possible community

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Monteverdi Choir, ORR, Heras-Casado, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - flames of joy and sorrow

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Cho, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - finely-focused stormy weather

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theartsdesk at the Lahti Sibelius Festival - early epics by the Finnish master in context

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BBC Proms: Barruk, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Kuusisto review - vague incantations, precise laments

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BBC Proms: Alexander’s Feast, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan review - rapturous Handel fills the space

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BBC Proms: Jansen, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mäkelä review - confirming a phenomenon

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BBC Proms: Liu, Philharmonia, Rouvali review - fine-tuned Tchaikovsky epic

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theartsdesk in Kovachevitsa - top Bulgarians and friends make peerless music in a remote village

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MARS, Irish National Opera review - silly space oddity with fun stretches

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BBC Proms: Láng, Cser, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer review - idiomatic inflections

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theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2025 - Arvo Pärt at 90 flanked by lightness and warmth

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BBC Proms: McCarthy, Bournemouth SO, Wigglesworth review - spring-heeled variety

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Salome, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a partnership in a million

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