sun 08/06/2025

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

theartsdesk in Dalarna: Rhinegold in a Swedish barn by a lake

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L'Arlesiana, Opera Holland Park review - at last, a rare Italian gem

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War and Peace, Welsh National Opera, Royal Opera House - bold epic weakened by loosely-directed characterisations

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theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2019 - in heaven with Dante's Purgatorio and Estonian rites

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Peter Gynt, National Theatre review - towering protagonist, middle-way production

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Alder, The Mozartists, Page, Wigmore Hall review - a Mozart feast for eyes and ears

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theartsdesk in Treviso - cultural patronage, Italian style

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Noye's Fludde, ENO/Theatre Royal Stratford East review - two-dimensional music theatre

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BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2019 Final, BBC Four review - stage confidence, supportive set-up

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The Damned, Comédie-Française, Barbican review - slow-burn horrors in devastating images

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theartsdesk in Svalbard: cultural excellence at the top of the world

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Boris Godunov, Royal Opera review - cool and surgical, with periodic chills

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Hansel and Gretel, ENO, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - into the broomstick woods

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Cate Haste: Passionate Spirit - The Life of Alma Mahler review - a racy life pacily narrated

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Kozhukhin, RPO, Petrenko, RFH review - more cultured than electrifying

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Manon Lescaut, Opera Holland Park review - attempt to empower commodified woman falls flat

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