fri 03/10/2025

stephen walsh

Bio
Stephen is a former Observer music critic and a regular contributor to The Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent and the BBC. He is the author of a major biography of Stravinsky and other books on Stravinsky, Bartók and Schumann. He holds a chair in music at Cardiff University.

Articles By Stephen Walsh

Tosca, Welsh National Opera review - a great company reduced to brilliance

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Káťa Kabanová, Glyndebourne review - emotional concentration in a salle modulable

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theartsdesk at the Three Choirs Festival - Passion in the Cathedral

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Mazeppa, Grange Park Opera review - a gripping reassessment

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Peter Grimes, Welsh National Opera review - febrile energy and rage

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Uproar, Rafferty, Royal Welsh College, Cardiff review - colourful new inventions inspired by Ligeti

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The Marriage of Figaro, Welsh National Opera review - no concessions and no holds barred

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Il trittico, Welsh National Opera review - welcome back (but not a good sign)

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Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera review - back to what they do best

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Il Trittico, Welsh National Opera review - another triumph for a hard-pressed company

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The Merry Widow, Glyndebourne review - fun and frolics in the Embassy

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Così fan tutte, Welsh National Opera review - relevance reduced to irrelevance

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Uproar, Rafferty, Royal Welsh College, Cardiff review - a rare spring in the new music step

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BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martin, Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff review - a host of horns in the wild woods

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La Traviata, Welsh National Opera review - memorable revival, unforgettable lead

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Ainadamar, Welsh National Opera review - hits hard without breaking ground

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Kanneh-Mason, Britten Sinfonia, Shave, Milton Court - a grin...

Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is one of those pieces whose existence in the modern world hangs on the most tenuous of threads. After its posthumous...

Urchin review - superb homeless drama

Urchin feels like a genuine moment in British cinema. Thematically, it...

Lapwood, Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review -...

Kahchun Wong’s second Bridgewater Hall concert of the new season was partly an introduction to the Hallé’s artist-in-residence for 2025-26, Anna...

Measure for Measure, RSC, Stratford review - 'problem p...

An opening video montage presents us with a rogues' gallery of powerful men who have done bad things. Plenty of the usual suspects...

theartsdesk at the New Ross Piano Festival - Finghin Collins...

High on the hill of fascinating New Ross in County Wexford sits its greatest treasure, the ruined 13th century Gothic beauty of St Mary’s. Unless...

Mr Blake at Your Service review - John Malkovich in unlikely...

This genial oddity – its pithier French title is Complètement Cramé, meaning something along the lines of completely burnt out –...

theartsdesk Q&A: musician Warren Ellis recalls how jungl...

Warren Ellis is Nick Cave’s wild-maned Bad Seeds right-hand man and The Dirty Three’s frenzied violinist. Justin Kurzel’s Australian film subjects...

The Importance of Being Earnest, Noël Coward Theatre review...

Star casting has, since the pandemic, done much to restore the fortunes of commercial theatre. And, when they can pull off a similar deal, the...