Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
Whiling away a relaxed hour on a Saturday afternoon at Howard Assembly Room listening to professional opera singers accompanied by only a piano, sounded too good to be true. Sadly it was, but that was a consequence of their doing all they could to make everyone welcome. There was a section on the pertinent website…
Read More
The people at Howard Assembly Room have done it again. They have presented a concert which could not be more appropriate but this time more by accident than design. Previous events have been staged so as to be relevant to the time; the American Composers was on Thanksgiving eve, whilst the programme of Jewish composers…
Read More
On 23rd February, 2020 I was privileged to be invited to the World Premier of Arya, a work by Leeds Sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun and I was amazed. Not only by the composition, the occasion, and the playing by both Mr Degun and The Orchestra of Opera North, but by the demeanour and humility…
Read More
Apologies to Carly Simon but I couldn’t resist. Carmen, George Bizet’s opera which was staged by Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre last October, is coming back for a short season. The production is the same although there have been several cast changes. Fortunately the sublime Chrystal E Williams still sings the title role so…
Read More
After seeing Alcina I have decided where I am going for my next holiday, or at least I would have if the island on which the opera was set had been named. It is not my usual target destination being a sparsely populated place with nothing much by way of interest except jungle and beach.…
Read More
This is a review I really wish I didn’t have to write. Not because the concert was bad, far from it, but Thursday, 27th January 2022 was Holocaust Memorial Day which marks the most barbaric event in the history of mankind. If only there had been nothing to remember. Leeds has more reason than most…
Read More
When I first began writing about opera I was advised that the music was great but the plots were a bit far fetched. I have indeed found that to be the case and surely no one can be accused of stretching the bounds of credibility more than Guiseppe Verdi in his opera Rigoletto. The work…
Read More
In view of the timing of recent concerts at Howard Assembly Room I was a bit wary about going to see this event. The American composers night was at Thanksgiving and Solstice on the appropriate day so Quartet for the End of Time seemed to be tempting fate. Fortunately 15th January was the anniversary of…
Read More
Well, here we are, a new year and a new experience. Until this evening I had never been to a piano recital. What an eye, and ear-opener! I have obviously heard pianists in action, you only have to look at my previous reviews to see that. Everything from rock’n’roll, through singer/songwriters to symphonies, but this…
Read More
Those lovely people at Howard Assembly Room don’t just throw their programme of events together will-nilly, far from it. After the US composers concert on Thanksgiving Eve, we had Winter Solstice on, you guessed it, Winter Solstice. 21st December is the date when the sun is farthest away from us, and is therefore the shortest…
Read More
Tyke It To The Limit 