A compelling theatrical experience

Porgy and Bess marked the pinnacle of Gershwin’s ambitions to be taken seriously as a composer and is by far his most substantial work. At its try-out in Boston in September 1935, the opera’s running

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

Purcell Dido and Aeneas Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, Fatma Said et al; Il Pomo d’Oro/ Maxim Emelyanychev Erato 2173228488 52:43 mins It’s been a mystery why Joyce DiDonato appeared to have bypassed

Predating Porgy and Bess by 13 years, George Gershwin’s Blue Monday was similarly written for an entirely Black cast. Set in a Harlem basement cafe, the jazz-infused opera’s title reflects the theory

Theatre: Twelfth Night or What You Will ...

Radiant Dawn Works by Hildegard of Bingen, Tallis, James MacMillan, Owain Park et al Matilda Lloyd (trumpet); The Gesualdo Six/Owain Park Hyperion CDA 68465 69:35 mins This is an ingenious and moving