Hidden treasures

The Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) has opted to remove its production of Puccini’s Tosca from The Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv next year after an open letter by RBO employees criticised the company for its

Premières Symphonies Works by Bizet, Gounod and Saint-Saëns Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/Kazuki Yamada Alpha Classics ALPHA1149 89:27 mins (2CD) The most familiar of these three classically

I enjoyed reading Francesco Piemontesi’s Concert Heaven, Concert Hell interview (September) about his ‘best’ and ‘worst’ performance... in the semi-final of the Elisabeth Competition in 2007! In fact,

Echoes of Exile Works by Bartók, Ben-Haim, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Zimmermann Sueye Park (violin) BIS BIS-2332 63:06 mins Turbulence from the Second World War impacts most of the composers on this album. Th

Roderick Williams is one of Britain’s leading baritones and a noted composer. A chorister in his youth, he studied at Oxford University before pursuing vocal studies at the Guildhall School of Music a

A man in a bow tie is unpacking items from a small trolley. To the table set up on the manicured, now yellowing lawn he adds a white tablecloth and silver cutlery. His equally well-attired picnickers