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Hansel and Gretel, RNCM, Manchester review – an urban dream
★★★★ HANSEL AND GRETEL, RNCM, MANCHESTER Beautiful singing, orchestral warmthBeautiful singing, orchestral warmth and ingenious re-imagining of the fairytale operaEngelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and...
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Haveron, BBC Philharmonic, Wilson, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review -...
Bright, clear sounds in three pieces of welcome post-war reliefJohn Wilson has built a reputation as a conductor which marks him out as a musicians’ musician. He doesn’t present himself with any...
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CD: Blossoms - Cool Like You
Second album from rising five-piece successfully hones their synth-pop credentialsBlossoms are the latest inheritors of the massive-in-Manchester mantle that has, so often in the past, translated into...
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Pinkshinyultrablast, Band on the Wall, Manchester - glitch-pop madness from...
Three-piece rule the room with their heavy beats and siren-like vocals Pinkshinyultrablast might be a long way from their hometown of St Petersburg, but in recent years they’ve built themselves up in...
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Unknown Mortal Orchestra/Deerhunter, Albert Hall, Manchester review – New...
★★★★ UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA/DEERHUNTER Kiwi rockers create festival vibeBeautiful music and band-led fun dominate the night despite occasional sound issuesUnknown Mortal Orchestra’s four albums all...
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Courtney Barnett, Albert Hall, Manchester review - mesmerising indie-rock set
★★★★★ COURTNEY BARNETT, ALBERT HALL Mesmerising indie-rock setSlacker-rock queen is anything but slack in blistering performanceAlthough once famous for her Australian drawl and hazy jams, on her most...
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Roscoe, BBC Philharmonic, Mena, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - a...
Spanish sunshine in an operatic farewell to orchestra’s departing chiefJuanjo Mena, chief conductor of Manchester's BBC Philharmonic for the past seven years, took his official leave of them with a...
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The Path to Heaven, RNCM, Manchester review - tragedy, truth, passion
★★★★ THE PATH TO HEAVEN, RNCM, MANCHESTER Tragedy, truth, passionNew opera by Adam Gorb about the Holocaust in a moving presentationAdam Gorb’s The Path to Heaven, with libretto by Ben Kaye, is his...
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Manchester Collective, Chetham's, Manchester review - flair and variety
★★★★ MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE, CHETHAM'S Flair and varietyIn-the-round chamber music breaking new ground in every directionManchester Collective is a new and enterprising group of musicians determined not...
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Apostasy review - trouble in the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom
★★★★ APOSTASY Trouble in the Jehovah's Witnesses' KingdomUnquestioning faith fractures in a quietly powerful debutReligion’s desire to fulfil humanity too often denies it instead. The cruelty of...
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Age Before Beauty, BBC One review - mid-life makeover madness
Debbie Horsfield's big, brassy, blowsy beauty salon drama If you were looking for the antidote to Love Island, this might be just the job. Instead of airbrushed 20-something Instagram fanatics...
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Psappha, Kok / Kempf, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Stoller Hall, Manchester...
Classics come in two sizes at Manchester season openersThe Stoller Hall, the modest-size auditorium inside Chetham’s School of Music, is really proving itself to be the venue Manchester has long needed...
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BBC Philharmonic, Wellber, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - new...
Harbinger of things to come – the spirit of the stage Two days after announcing his appointment as their next chief conductor (he takes the reins officially next summer, in time for the Proms), by...
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Peterloo review - Mike Leigh's angry historical drama
★★★★★ PETERLOO Angry, riveting historical drama from Mike LeighSprawling and wordy, but rivetingConsidering how the UK prides itself on having created the "Mother of Parliaments" and its citizens...
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Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review – three iconic works
★★★★★ HALLÉ, ELDER, BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER Three iconic worksAn ear-stretching showpiece – and more – with glorious playing At first sight, performing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring– premiered...
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Gianni Schicchi/Suor Angelica, RNCM, Manchester review – music does the magic
A new and impressive approach to college opera performanceThe Royal Northern College of Music’s December opera production was the useful double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi from Puccini’s...
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Cold Feet, Series 8, ITV review - mortality lite
★★★ COLD FEET, SERIES 8 More sad faces and silly facesThe cast return once more to pull sad faces and silly faces How much more is there to say about the thrills and spills of midlife? Cold Feet made a...
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Van Woerkum, BBCPO, Gernon, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - a symphony...
How an ‘image soloist’ makes film dance to music’s beatIn contrast to a classic film soundtrack played live with the film, the idea in "symphonic cinema" is that the music, and its interpretation, come...
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Hough, Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - film music flows
★★★★ HOUGH, HALLÉ, ELDER, BRIDGEWATER HALL Film music flowsA symphony of icy wastes finds new life … and contrastsNo one worried about melting icecaps and homeless penguins when Vaughan Williams wrote...
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La Damnation de Faust, Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review -...
Vivid choral and orchestral sounds in a thrilling account of Berlioz masterpieceBerlioz called it a "concert opera". His telling of the Faust story is in scenes and highly theatrical, but a bit of a...
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