thu 07/08/2025

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

Così fan tutte, Royal Opera review - vibrant youth and vocal beauty

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theartsdesk in Zurich - forging a brilliant new Ring

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theartsdesk Q&A: bass-baritone Christopher Purves on communicating everything from Handel to George Benjamin

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George Fu, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - high intellect and visceral shocks

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Violet, Music Theatre Wales/Britten-Pears Arts review - well sung and played, but to what end?

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Ulysses, Abbey Theatre / The Tin Soldier, Gate Theatre, Dublin review - peerless Joyce marathon, Andersen squashed

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theartsdesk at the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival - extraordinary women to the fore

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Maria Stuarda, Irish National Opera review – two queens sing for the crown, with spectacular results

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Orfeo ed Euridice, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival review - heavenly possibilities, devils at work in the details

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Davidsen, Oslo Philharmonic, Mäkelä, Barbican review - full workout for the nervous system

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LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - four centuries of Italian music on parade

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Samson et Dalila, Royal Opera review - from austerity to excess, with visual rigour and aural beauty

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The Wreckers, Glyndebourne review - no masterpiece, but vividly sung and played

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Ozark, Series 4 Part 2, Netflix review - crumbling consciences and a last stand

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Buchbinder, Gewandhausorkester Leipzig, Nelsons, Barbican / COE Soloists, St John's Smith Square review - European sophistication in spades

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Age of Rage, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Barbican review - shattering assault on all the senses

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