thu 03/07/2025

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

Proms 63-65, Choral Day review - from Harris to Handel/Mozart via Alabama, with love

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Prom 62, Mahler's Sixth Symphony, Bavarian RSO, Rattle review - sound over momentum

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Kaos, Netflix review - playing fast and profuse with the Greek myths

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Prom 58, Orchestre de Paris, Mäkelä review - risky reinvention pays off in part

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Prom 55, Ólafsson, Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko review - stealth and sweep from the greatest

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Prom 52, Carmen, Glyndebourne Festival review - fine-tuning a masterpiece

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Prom 50, Fujita, Czech Philharmonic, Hrůša review - revelations where least expected

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Prom 30, National Youth Orchestra, NYO Inspire, Bloch, Jackson review - sheer youthful joy, passion and precision

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Prom 23, Grosvenor, LPO, Gardner review - strange meetings

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theartsdesk at the Haapsalu Early Music Festival 2024 - other-worldly instruments, perfect programmes and haunting venues

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Prom 19, Rummukainen, Dandy, BBCSO, Oramo review - inward reflections and choral transcendence

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Tristan und Isolde, Glyndebourne review - infinite love at white heat

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Prom 17, Kozhukhin, RPO, Petrenko review - four tripartite masterpieces

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theartsdesk Q&A: violinist Braimah and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, guitarist Plínio Fernandes, on their two Fantasia Proms

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Prom 6, Verdi's Requiem, BBCNOW, Bancroft review - running the emotional gamut

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Hello, Dolly!, London Palladium review - Imelda Staunton makes every line a deal-broker

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Semele, Royal Opera review - unholy smoke

Poor, slightly silly Semele fries at the sight of lover Jupiter casting off his mortal form, but in Congreve’s and Handel’s supposedly happy...

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Le nozze di Figaro, Glyndebourne review - perceptive humanit...

Over 100 years ago, John Christie envisaged Wagner’s Parsifal with limited forces in the Organ Room at Glyndebourne. He would have been...

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Fidelio, Garsington Opera review - a battle of sunshine and...

Sometimes, as the first act of Beethoven’s Fidelio closes, the chorus of prisoners discreetly fade away backstage as their brief taste of...