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Fight for relevance

Yesterday morning as I was scrolling lazily my Instagram timeline came upon a brilliant opera singer being all happy to be promoted as the Beyoncé of opera.

After the initial fluter of excitement that an opera singer gets featured on a mainstream media outlet (coverage is that rare, to make any reference becomes a cause for celebration), started to wonder why once more the mainstream has to…

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Exclusion by design

Was looking at the future programming of the Barbican Art Gallery this morning and was amazed to find out that their Box Office has gone cashless on the 1st of November. I find it extraordinary for a major venue subsidised both by the Arts Council and The City of London to instigate this measure under the guise of speed of transactions and/or safety. Surely in the middle class bubble the…

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2017, my musical year in review

The last time I wrote a blog post, Donald Trump had just become President of the USA, which pretty much prefigured the chaos and confusion of the last twelve months. But being on the door step of a possible nuclear obliteration is a good time to look back to all the joyful artistic experiences that made it from bearable to outright gorgeous.  Since I lazily put together a short list of favourites…

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A bass with no balls

A bass with no balls

This morning was a strange one, watching the smug permatanned face of Donald Trump pretend to be presidential for five minutes before returning into the usual idiotic drivel in his acceptance speech. As I drunk my cup of coffee and ate the sad remains of a slice of carrot cake I thought I’d catch up with Instagram.

One of the first posts to see was by Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov. A triumphant…

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Lack of ambition never saved anyone in trouble

Lack of ambition never saved anyone in trouble

The rigmarole about English National Opera’s finances continues. The board seems to be incapable to bring anything of value to the table since their only solution to the brutal fiscal realities is to scale down ambition and erode standards of performance.

The stories of the folding of New York City Opera and the current slow death of Scottish Opera teach us one main lesson. If you scale back…

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Fat gate mark 2

Fat gate mark 2

Being a performer is tough. You are exposed to criticism at every turn and it is expected. But it was horrendous that the Evening Standard would go on to body shame Alan Clayton less than two years since the uproar at Glyndebourne. Whilst it is fine to criticise all aspects of a live performance in a professional manner to make disparaging remarks on the bodily appearance of the performers most…

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2015, my operatic year

2015, my operatic year

Dear readers…I have been a bad boy this year and my blogging was rather infrequent. Mind you, if you follow me on any social media you probably have heard more from me than you’d like to…but thanks for persevering.

2015 has been an unremarkable year for opera in Britain, mainly due to companies feeling the squeeze on budgets which for most meant a retreat to standard rep and taking few chances.…

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And the madness continues Everybody has to watch President Obama's statement on the latest mass shooting in the US. For anyone in Europe the gun possession obsession of the Americans is puzzling and makes the all too frequent shooting seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Just don't mention Rieu

Just don’t mention Rieu

Another week another fawning article about André Rieu and what we can learn from him to spice up our boring conventional concert experience. His form of entertainment is a very old type of  frothy intellectually disengaged affair. It is a sort of idolatry, a cult of forced entertainment. Somehow the only way to enjoy it seems to be by suspending critical faculties and giving in to the kitsch.

I…

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My radio début...

My radio début…

Worth warning you that tomorrow afternoon I will be a guest on The Opera Hour hosted by Richard Scott.

In a previous life I had appeared as a TV interviewee but never on radio. So tomorrow will be at my best behaviour chatting all things opera and playing some favourite arias…no panic it’s just live radio! Hopefully I will make some sort of sense…but certainly fun will be had.

So tune in online…

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Have a listen ENO

Have a listen ENO

I do hate to add to the mass of frenzied and at times uncalled for attacks on ENO. But as a follow-up from their new season launch in April I decided to upload my recording of the press conference. Especially in light of John Berry’s , the artistic director’s, announcement four days ago that he is stepping down.

What made it remarkable was his rather dampened mood at the presentation and the…

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ENO season launch 2015/2016 live tweeting extravaganza

ENO season launch 2015/2016 live tweeting extravaganza

Tomorrow morning between 10.00 and 11.00 the English National Opera will hold its annual season launch. Like the last three years I am present and will relay the news as it breaks. Below you will see a live stream of my tweets and even further down will be tracking the official hashtag used by ENO for reactions by other twitterati. Join in the fun!

My tweets

Tweets by @operacreep

What everyone…

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Michael Tippett's The Ice Break some video excerpts from the premiere on 3 April 2015

This was my third production by Graham Vick’s Birmingham Opera company who always surprises and is built of the foundation of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a community chorus that tends to be the vibrating, galvanising factor of the whole experience. On Friday night a bleak warehouse in the industrial area of Birmingham was transformed into an airport arrivals lounge. As with…

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The prize for worst strap line EVER goes to…

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Long reads and a toilet related giggle

Long reads and a toilet related giggle

The interesting question of how we value copies of celebrated artworks in a culture that puts authenticity above all

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/13/real-works-of-art-victoria-and-albert-museum-reproductions

The opening of a once a generation Fulton Centre transport hub in New York was a good time to reflect on its beauty and all too rare appearance in most big cities today…

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Dance, opera and a significant library

Dance, opera and a significant library

Benjamin Millepied took over on November 1st the Paris Opera Ballet. His tweet marking the occasion has to be one of the coolest…freeruning on the roof of the Palais Garnier ;)

Let's go Paris! @BalletOParis #Nov12014 #BacktoFrance 21 years later pic.twitter.com/PTALeQE4fz

— Benjamin Millepied (@B_Millepied) November 1, 2014

Roslyn Lucas wrote a great piece for the New York Times on Millepied 

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Visit to Kilve beach, Somerset

Visit to Kilve beach, Somerset

Spent a week in Somerset and despite staying very near the well known fossil laden beach at Kilve. As usual in my disorganised state went there at the end of a long day and didn’t take my proper camera with me.

The fading light and the rugged beauty of the cliffs and the beach itself was a huge temptation so took some shots on my phone. They hopefully relay the warmth of the fading sun and the…