tue 17/06/2025

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

Gurrelieder, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - everything in place, but still something’s missing

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theartsdesk at Musikfest Berlin - orchestral and choral rainbows around the clock

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Leonskaja, Staatskapelle Streichquartett, Wigmore Hall review - Brahms the chameleon

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BBC Proms 2022 - silence after Mass

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Prom 69, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Monteverdi Choir, ORR, Gardiner review - shock, fervour and total focus

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The Goldberg Variations, De Keersmaeker, Kolesnikov, Sadler's Wells review - keyboard harmony and atonal dance

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Prom 62, Mahler's Seventh Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko review - hallucinogenic night's journey into day

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Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Friends, Bold Tendencies review - intimate tenderness under a car-park roof

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Prom 59, The Dream of Gerontius, Clayton, Barton, Platt, LPO, Gardner review - most sure in all its ways

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Patience, Charles Court Opera, Wilton's Music Hall review - bar room bliss

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Duval, Isserlis, Beatson, Fidelio Cafe review - in seventh heaven with the greats

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Prom 42, Lisiecki, BBC Scottish SO, Dausgaard review - concerto partnership made in heaven

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theartsdesk at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2022 - a safe space to reflect on horrors

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Prom 39, Hartwig, BBCSO, Oramo review - bright and breezy followed by a curate's egg

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La Voix humaine/Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Glyndebourne review - phantasmagorical wonders

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Prom 35, Wang, Oslo Philharmonic, Mäkelä review - crystalline fantasy and levitational brilliance

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