We have already covered a Carmen here on Classical Explorer: a live performance from Strasbourg, conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov with Elena Maximova in the title role. Here are two more, with teh emphasis on the first: Anna Caterina Antonaci is one of the great Carmens. She is all woman, carrying

PROM 50: Handel Samson, HWV 57 (1741-2, heard in the revised 1743 version). Allan Clayton (Samson); Jacquelyn Stucker (Dalila); Joélle Harvey (Israelite Woman); Jess Dandy (Micah); Brindley Sherratt (Harapha); Jonathan Lemalu (Manoa); Will Pate (Messenger); Philharmonia Chorus; Laurence Cummings (harpsichord / director). Royal Albert Hall, 23.08.2023 It is Milton’

I encountered the Bach of violinist Chiara Zanisi and harpsichordist Giulia Nuti this year in France, as part of “L'Itinéraire” in Ton Koopman’s festival, Baroque Itinéraire. Their superb concert, as one of the several concerts in one day, comprised a selection of movements from the Bach “Sonate

Some readers might be familiar with the fairly recent performances of The Golden Cockerel by English Touring Opera (I reviewed one at the Hackney Empire). Bizarrely, concluding that review I speculated what Barrie Kosky's production - then in Australia, initially premiered in Aix - would be like. Well.

Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano); BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Ryan Bancroft (conductor).  Royal Albert Hall, London, 1.8.2023 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 (1917-21) Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (1888) A relatively short Prom, this one, and a 7

Itinéraire Baroque, 2023 I: Ave Maris Stella. Marie Lys, Judith van Wanroij (sopranos); Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset. Eglise Abbatiale de Cercles, France, 28.07.2023 Marc-Antoine Charpentier Ave Maris Stella, H 60. Jesu corona Virginum,                H 53. Regina coeli Laetare, H 16. In odorem                unnguentorum, H 52. Regina coeli

Not Ricky: Chales-Hubert Gervais (1671-1744), a protégé of the Duc of Orléans, was Chapel Master of the Royal Chapel of King Louis XV of France from 1723 onwards. Gervais comes after Lully and Lalande. He was an opera composer primarily - his first success was with the opéra Hypermestre of