Reviews

My reviews of concerts in Durham. Full reviews on this page are written exclusively for this site. I generally buy my own tickets for concerts, especially when they are student or local amateur groups.

Venetian Brass

His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornets and Durham Cathedral Choir bring the glorious sounds of early Venetian brass music to Durham Cathedral.

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DOE: Alice in Wonderland

A riotously fun production of Will Todd’s jazz opera, Alice in Wonderland, performed in the gardens of St John’s College by Durham Opera Ensemble. There are two more performances and the weather forecast looks good, so grab a picnic rug and get a ticket.

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DUOS poster: watercolour effect of girl playing violin

DUOS: Ravel to Rachmaninov

From a solo oboe to the blaze of the full symphony orchestra, Durham University Orchestral Society trod a carefully plotted path in their Epiphany term concert, in which each piece on the programme added to what had gone before, from the Chamber Orchestra’s delicate colouring of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin to a punchy performance of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.

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either end of the SCALE 2: Stimmung

The Ives Ensemble and Forum Neue Vokalmusik go from the quantum to the cosmological in the second concert of MUSICON’s “either end of the SCALE” series. The strange beauty of Stockhausen’s “Stimmung” left me entranced, and gave me an excuse to reference Tolkien in a review.

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DOE: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I was delighted to see Durham Opera Ensemble choosing Britten for this year’s Gala show. A Midsummer Night’s dream was a big challenge but the final result was a very enjoyable performance, with some excellent singing.

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