thu 15/05/2025

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

Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing: 'in the moments when magic happens, you think, that's why we do this'

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4.48 Psychosis, Royal Opera, Lyric Hammersmith review - despairing truth in song and speech

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DVD/Blu-ray: The Touch

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LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - incandescent swansongs by Mahler and Tippett

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DVD/Blu-ray: Bergman's The Magic Flute

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Andsnes, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - dazzling symphonic contrasts, plus oddities

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theartsdesk in Bremen: 150 years of A German Requiem

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The Moderate Soprano, Duke of York's Theatre review - love and opera with a flinty edge

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Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Royal Opera review - bleak rigour and black comedy still cast a spell

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Robin Ticciati on conducting Brahms: 'trying to understand the man through his music'

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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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There is so much that is right about Jonathan Kent’s new production of House of Games – the casting, the staging, the...

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Danish singer MØ is a paradox. Initially she appeared to be another Scandi electro-pop princess of the bangers. The monster 2015 hit “Lean On”...

Stile Antico, Wigmore Hall review - a glorious birthday cele...

There was a wonderful festal spirit at the Wigmore Hall last night, as the vocal ensemble Stile Antico ran through a Greatest Hits selection in...

PUP, SWG3, Glasgow review - controlled chaos from Canadian p...

According to PUP lead singer Stefan Babcock, the Toronto foursome practiced together a grand total of twice before embarking on their current UK...

Zoe Lyons, Touring - midlife, without the crisis

Zoe Lyons knows her audience; as a few shoutouts confirmed, many of them are long-time fans, and have had lives with similar highs and...

The Last Musician of Auschwitz review - a haunting testament...

“It is so disgraceful, what happened there,” says Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, in a comment that is the understatement of the century. She is referring...

Giulio Cesare, The English Concert, Bicket, Barbican review...

Is Giulio Cesare in Egitto, to give the full title, Handel’s best and shapeliest opera? Glyndebourne’s revival of the legendary David...

Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - premiere...

Huw Watkins’ Concerto for Orchestra, the fourth new work of his to be commissioned and premiered by the Hallé and Sir Mark Elder, is...