wed 17/09/2025

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

theartsdesk at the Lahti Sibelius Festival - early epics by the Finnish master in context

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BBC Proms: Barruk, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Kuusisto review - vague incantations, precise laments

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BBC Proms: Alexander’s Feast, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan review - rapturous Handel fills the space

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BBC Proms: Jansen, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mäkelä review - confirming a phenomenon

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BBC Proms: Liu, Philharmonia, Rouvali review - fine-tuned Tchaikovsky epic

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theartsdesk in Kovachevitsa - top Bulgarians and friends make peerless music in a remote village

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MARS, Irish National Opera review - silly space oddity with fun stretches

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BBC Proms: Láng, Cser, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer review - idiomatic inflections

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theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2025 - Arvo Pärt at 90 flanked by lightness and warmth

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BBC Proms: McCarthy, Bournemouth SO, Wigglesworth review - spring-heeled variety

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Salome, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a partnership in a million

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theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beethoven and Byron transfigured

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Semele, Royal Opera review - unholy smoke

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Le nozze di Figaro, Glyndebourne review - perceptive humanity in period setting

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Aldeburgh Festival, Weekend 2 review - nine premieres, three young ensembles - and Allan Clayton

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Schubertiade 3 at the Ragged Music Festival, Mile End review - five great musicians keep spirits soaring

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My colleague Boyd Tonkin visited the Lammermuir Festival for the first time this year. His eyes and ears have been opened to its treasures, but...

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Spinal Tap II: The End Continues review - comedy rock band f...

That difficult second documentary – or if you will, “rockumentary” – seems to have been especially challenging for...

Tosca, Welsh National Opera review - a great company reduced...

So it’s come to this: WNO’s autumn season reduced to two operas, a Tosca borrowed from Opera North and a revival of their own Candide...

Not Your Superwoman, Bush Theatre review - powerful tribute...

The Bush is likely to continue its fine recent run of hit plays, with this funny, poignant, culturally authentic and beautifully acted two-hander...