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

Bernstein's MASS, RFH review - polymorphousness in excelsis

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Coraline, Royal Opera, Barbican review - spooky story, underwhelming score

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Manon, Royal Ballet review - glitter and betray

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theartsdesk at the Lucerne Easter Festival: Haitink, Schiff and an alternative Passion

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Gerhardt, RPO, Payare, RFH review - personality muted by faceless conducting

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La traviata, English National Opera review - into a vortex of ineptitude

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Faust, LSO, Gardiner, Barbican review - Schumann as never before

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Hallenberg, LSO, Gardiner, Barbican review - palpitating Schumann and Berlioz

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From the House of the Dead, Royal Opera review - Janáček's prison oddity prompts hot tears

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Fanny and Alexander, Old Vic review - agile but shallow Bergman adaptation

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theartsdesk in Germany - Baltic mastery in Berlin and Leipzig

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Iolanthe, English National Opera review - bright and beautiful G&S for all

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Carmen, Royal Opera review - clever concept, patchy singing, sexy dancing

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Baráti, Lyddon, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - Stravinsky's bright but derivative beginnings

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Capuçon, Philharmonia, Järvi, RFH review - Dvořák in blazing focus

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Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Milton Court review - Arvo Pärt plus

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