wed 16/04/2025

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

St Matthew Passion, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin review - fluency, fire and some jaw-dropping solos

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'Migrations' String Quartet Weekend, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - memorials and masterpieces

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Sánchez, National Symphony Orchestra, Martín, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - Spanish panache

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Turning the Screw, King’s Head Theatre review - Britten and the not-so-innocent

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Alder, RPO, Petrenko, RFH review - strings and soprano sing their hearts out

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The Handmaid's Tale, English National Opera review - last chance saloon for sub-Atwood baggy monster

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Elijah, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - vivid declamation powers Old Testament blockbuster

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The Traitors, Series 2, BBC One review - back to the mind-labyrinth

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Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall review - every note of Brahms’ late genius carefully weighed

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Elektra, Royal Opera review - moral: don’t wait too long for revenge

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Jenůfa, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - a variegated but gorgeous bouquet

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Boris Giltburg, Wigmore Hall review - epic heaven and hell

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Best of 2023: Classical music concerts

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Best of 2023: Opera

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theartsdesk in Ravenna - Riccardo Muti passes on a lifetime's operatic wisdom

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Michael Powell: a happy time with Bartók’s Bluebeard

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