New-look MusicalCriticism.com!

Hello everyone,

Check out the new-look MusicalCriticism.com for all the latest news, reviews, interviews and features on classical music and opera in the UK and beyond.

Current reviews include most of the final three weeks of the Proms; recordings of Mozart operas, Koessler chamber music and Verdi's Il trovatore from Bregenz;
 and an interview with Sicilian tenor Marcello Giordani on 
singing Berlioz's La damnation de Faust.

Join us at www.musicalcriticism.com

and join our new Facebook account to enter the debate.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3360267477

Dominic McHugh
Editor
MusicalCriticism.com

Viktoria Mullova plays Bach

Not an overwhelming success in Hugo's opinion, Mullova's Bach CD nevertheless gained a 5 star review and was record of the month for the BBC Music Magazine:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-mullova-bach.htm

Prom 14: The Seasons

Hugo's inaugural live review for us was an outstanding performance of Haydn's lesser known oratorio by Roger Norrington:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/concerts/prom-14-0707.htm

Prom 13: Brett Dean

A world premiere by Brett Dean overshadows Beethoven 7:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/concerts/prom-13-0707.htm

Prom 15: Verdi's Macbeth

I realise that for many this was a wonderful evening, but I sat through it with the critical edition of the score in my hands and wondered many times where certain gestures, tempi and note lengths were coming from:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/concerts/prom-15-0707.htm

La traviata at Opera Holland Park

I rather liked Holland Park's production of Traviata. Unlike Richard Eyre's heavy ROH production, it has a light touch that is in keeping with the opera itself:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/opera/ohp-traviata.htm

American Jubilee: CD review

Erich Kunzel conducts the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - sometimes ponderously - in American music:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-jubilee.htm