The Latest Breaking News from Britten

Karim Sulayman/Sean Shibe review – tenor and guitarist beguile in wide-ranging and joyful recital

From a lament to the Lebanese capital to Sephardic love songs, melancholy Monteverdi to Purcell and Britten, the pair’s ‘Broken Branches’ programme felt spontaneous and engaging

The Guardian - UK · Jul 15

Peter Grimes review – beauty and terror in Warner’s topical staging

As the tormented fisherman, Allan Clayton currently has few rivals. He is matched by a superb cast in this gripping revival of Britten’s opera

The Guardian - UK · May 6

What does the dark side of the moon sound like? Nasa’s sonifications are helping us imagine

As Artemis II returns from the dark side of the moon, Nasa’s transformations of electromagnetic energy into sound remind us that everything is vibrating – even while the astronauts are listening to Chappell Roan

The Guardian - UK · Apr 8

Peter Grimes review – WNO’s production of Britten’s masterwork seethes like a wild and cruel sea

Melly Still’s new staging production brilliantly captures the tortured guilt, small-minded bitching and flash-points of volatility, with Nicky Spence a sympathetic Grimes

The Guardian - UK · Apr 6, 2025

New heights, fond farewells and daring acrobatics – the year in classical music

It was a thrilling year with glittering new works, an electrifying Proms season, Puccini in a laundry and Britten on a trapeze

The Guardian - UK · Dec 17, 2024

Takács Quartet review – a superlative performance in which the music never sits still

Britten’s second string quartet was framed by forward-looking works by Haydn and Beethoven with each work sounding fresh in an entrancing concert

The Guardian - UK · Nov 13, 2024

Hallé/Wong review – new chapter begins with muted Mahler

Kahchun Wong starts his tenure as the Manchester orchestra’s principal conductor with Mahler’s first and a suite from Britten’s Prince of the Pagodas

The Guardian - UK · Sep 27, 2024

Imogen Holst: Discovering Imogen album review – expressive works from composer hiding in plain sight

The daughter of Gustav and assistant to Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst wrote her own imaginative and unsentimental music, gathered here for the first time

The Guardian - UK · Aug 29, 2024

All for you! Janet Jackson, Snõõper, Bob Dylan and more: the best music of autumn 2024

From Chat Pile’s apocalyptic noise to Nala Sinephro’s celestial bliss, plus posthumous releases from MC5 and Sophie, here are the albums and tours not to miss – while in classical, Kahchun Wong takes over at the Hallé

The Guardian - UK · Aug 25, 2024

The week in classical: Prom 37: Britten’s War Requiem; The Turn of the Screw – review

Britten’s explosive work is a rallying cry at the Proms, while a twilit production of his chamber opera feels properly ghostly

The Guardian - UK · Aug 24, 2024