thu 17/07/2025

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

Jaan Kross: A Book of Falsehoods review - plague, power and deception in 16th century Tallinn

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Best of 2022: Classical music concerts

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Best of 2022: Opera

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theartsdesk in Brno - a visionary at home in his ‘Moravian Bayreuth’

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Pavel Kolesnikov, Wigmore Hall review - conjuring spirits from solstitial darkness

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Bach Christmas Oratorio, Monteverdi Choir, EBS, Gardiner, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - soul-piercing song and dance

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Don Pasquale, Irish National Opera review - stock comedy shines at close quarters

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Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - a performance to make the heart beat faster

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It’s a Wonderful Life, English National Opera review - Capra’s sharp-edged sentiment smothered in endless schmaltz

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Watts, Williams, The Bach Choir, Philharmonia, Hill, RFH review - Vaughan Williams, from decadence to metaphysics

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Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - nine haute cuisine courses, twelve happy musicians

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Alcina, Royal Opera review - sharp stage magic, mist over the pit

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The Yeomen of the Guard, English National Opera review - half-good shot at an unusual G&S misalliance

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Britten Weekend, Snape review - diverse songs to mostly great poetry overshadow a problem opera

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theartsdesk at Wexford Festival Opera - the bad, the good and the glorious

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Vaughan Williams Anniversary Concert, Wigmore Hall review - choices, choices

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