Journalist, photographer and social commentator.
BBC Prom 20, August 3 2019 Violin Concerto and Symphony 5. J. Sibelius, violinist: Pekka Kuusisto, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard Where did Sibelius find the wonderful, hummable themes and melodies for his violin concerto and his fifth symphony? […]
Helene Schjerfbeck at the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, Royal academy , London. On until 27 october 2019 How many Finns with an artistic bent can you mention? I don’t blame you if you can just think of two and at a […]
Belshazzar by Georg Friedrich Händel seen at The Grange Festival, Northington, UK, July 4, 2019 Bizarrely this is the first professional production of Händel’s oratorio Belshazzar (1744) in the UK. It is true that oratorios originally weren’t intended to be […]
Prom 60, Royal Albert Hall, 27 August 2018 Does Leonard Bernstein 28 years after his death really need an advocate? In this country we are particularly keen on celebrating or commemorating the births and deaths of composers. In March it […]
The Hallé is one of Britain’s oldest orchestras and it is no surprise that they have championed many compositions at an early stage, before they became true classics. The orchestra’s founder, Charles Hallé, put Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture on the repertoire […]
Sunday 27 may 2018, Handel Festival Halle The late-Gothic Ulrichskirche in Halle (Saale) has been a concert hall since the 1970s and the massive concert organ is now a bit of a feature. It is not old, but if you […]
Händel Festspiele Halle 2018, 26 May, 2018 Georg-Friedrich Händel Halle Correct me if I am wrong, but surely the Kansas-born mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is our generation’s biggest opera diva. On top of that a prima donna who doesn’t put on […]
The Handel festival has taken place on an annual basis in the composer’s birthplace Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, since 1952. This year’s premiere of the original Italian version of the opera Berenice means that all of Georg Friedrich Händel’s 42 operas have […]
In the good ol’ days every Broadway show had weeks of previews out in the sticks. The European Fine Art Fair (Tefaf) only needed two previews to get it right. TEFAF Maastricht, 8-18 March 2018, see also my previous blog. […]
Behind the glass there are some 12,000 orchids, buttercups and various other pink and white flowers that seem to drift in a nine metre wide cloud. Every year the entrance to The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht is […]
Did Charles I’s marvelous art collection play a part in his downfall and consequent execution? No other royal, apart from possibly George IV, devoted as much money and time to acquiring works of art. He may have lacked political nous […]
Review of exhibition Lake Keitele, a vision of Finland at National Gallery, London. Until 4 February 2018. Have you ever heard of the Finnish artist Axel Gallén? Or does Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1930) ring a bell? I am impressed if you […]