thu 18/09/2025

David Nice

David Nice's picture
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

Jerusalem Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - singing to make the heart leap

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Douglas, Estonian NSO, Elts, Cadogan Hall review - perfect ebb and flow from conductor and pianist

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theartsdesk at the Sheffield Chamber Music Festival - romps and meditations at the highest level

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Wozzeck, Royal Opera review - orchestral and visual beauty salve human misery at its most extreme

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Pavel Kolesnikov, Samson Tsoy, QEH review - piano magicians conduct themselves beautifully

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Ghosts, Abbey Theatre, Dublin review - creating tension from desolation

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Bartlett, National Symphony Orchestra, Weilerstein, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - edgy darkness, blazing light and high camp

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Castalian String Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - late Britten keeps equally demanding company

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LPO, Jurowski, RFH / LSO, BBC Singers, Rattle, Barbican review - spiderwebs, sublimity and a powerful speech

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Blue, English National Opera review - the company’s boldest vindication yet?

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Innocence, Royal Opera review - timely, layered drama with almost incidental music

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National Youth Orchestra, Gourlay, RFH review - non-stop jamboree at the highest level

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Life is a Dream, Cheek by Jowl, Barbican Theatre review - savouring the Spanish of a singular masterpiece

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Belcea Quartet, Chamayou, Wigmore Hall review - romantic winged beast soars over neobaroque chameleon

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Tenebrae, Short, St John’s Smith Square review - Bach and MacMillan soulfully joined, until the end

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Messiah, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, Wigmore Hall review - wonderful, easy, light and dark in perfect poise

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Unexpectedly, there’s a sly reference to James Joyce’s Ulysses interpolated into Act One (in case we hadn’t caught the not...

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Album: The Divine Comedy - Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Neil Hannon has been recording and touring as the Divine Comedy since 1989 and has tried a fair few flavours along the way, from chamber pop to...

Lammermuir Festival 2025, Part 2 review - from the soaringly...

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...