thu 17/07/2025

stephen walsh

Bio
Stephen is a former Observer music critic and a regular contributor to The Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent and the BBC. He is the author of a major biography of Stravinsky and other books on Stravinsky, Bartók and Schumann. He holds a chair in music at Cardiff University.

Articles By Stephen Walsh

Don Giovanni, Welsh National Opera review - fine young cast let down by unhelpful conducting

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Madam Butterfly, Welsh National Opera review - decent performance, disagreeable context

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The Barber of Seville, Welsh National Opera review - back to work in an old banger

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The Cunning Little Vixen, Longborough Festival Opera review - life, death and the menopause in the forest

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theartsdesk at the Three Choirs Festival - Purcell, Gabriel Jackson and Duruflé

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Die Walküre, Longborough Festival Opera review - heroic defiance of farcical constraints

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Pagliacci, Opera Ensemble, Longborough review - stripped down but live

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Brecon Baroque, Podger, Brecon Cathedral online review - Bach recoloured

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Denis and Katya, Music Theatre Wales / Uproar, Rafferty review - disturbing the untroubled monotony of South Wales music

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Les vêpres siciliennes, Welsh National Opera review - spectacular, silly, but some great music

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Podger, Brecon Baroque, Hollingworth, Brecon Cathedral review - Bohemian footnotes yield the extraordinary

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The Cunning Little Vixen, Welsh National Opera review - family night in the forest

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Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera review - same old update, fine performance

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Carmen, Welsh National Opera review - intermittent brilliance in a gloomy, unclear environment

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theartsdesk at the Three Choirs Festival - the beautiful and the damned

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Don Giovanni, Longborough Festival Opera review - Mozart in the urinal

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Album: Slikback - Attrition

In the eternal now of the strobe-lit sweatbox, innovation functions in a different way to the rest of culture. Yes of course, the thrill of the...

Interview: Quinteto Astor Piazzolla on playing in London and...

“I still can’t believe that some pseudo-critics continue to accuse me of having murdered...

Sir Brian Clarke (1953-2025) - a personal tribute

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S/HE IS STILL HER/E - The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documen...

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Album: The Near Jazz Experience - Tritone

As the name suggests, the Near Jazz Experience owe a huge musical debt to jazz, but that’s not the full story by any means. For a start, the...

Billie Eilish, O2 review - power, authenticity and deep conn...

Billie Eilish may be one of the biggest names in new music, but here at the O2 Arena, she’s just Billie – the one who stares deep into your soul,...