sun 20/07/2025

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

The Tales of Hoffmann, Royal Opera review - three-headed monster feels baggier than ever

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Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flight

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Fauré Centenary Concert 1, Wigmore Hall review - Isserlis and friends soar

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theartsdesk at Wexford Festival Opera - let's make three operas

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The Wild Duck, The Norwegian Ibsen Company, Coronet Theatre review - slow burn, devastating climax

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The Turn of the Screw, English National Opera review - Jamesian ambiguities chillingly preserved

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Trouble in Tahiti/A Quiet Place, Linbury Theatre review - top cast plays unhappy families

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Nobodaddy, Teaċ Daṁsa, Dublin Theatre Festival review - supernatural song and dance odyssey

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Béatrice et Bénédict, Irish National Opera, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - sung and spoken triumph

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Elisabeth Leonskaja, Wigmore Hall review - a universe of sound and emotion in Schubert’s last three sonatas

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Andsnes, London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Gardner, RFH review - total clarity in classic-romantic and prophetic Rachmaninov

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Suor Angelica, English National Opera review - isolated one-acter lacks emotional inscaping

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Eugene Onegin, Royal Opera review - the heart left cold

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Pavel Kolesnikov, Wigmore Hall review - unpredictable magic

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theartsdesk in Bradford - Leeds International Piano Competition 2024 finalists shine in St George's Hall

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Beethoven Sonata Cycle 1, Boris Giltburg, Wigmore Hall review - running the gamut

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