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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nick Kimberley's rating
Reader rating
Description: The internationally-acclaimed mezzo-soprano performs works by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Viardot, Garcia and Malibran, accompanied by pianist Sergio Ciomei.
Vocal recitals with piano accompaniment can be frosty affairs but not when Cecilia Bartoli is performing. She loves what she sings, she loves her audience and, with all due modesty, she loves her own voice.
Who wouldn’t? It’s 20 years since her first recording signalled her remarkable talent. Then she sang Rossini and she returned to him for this affectionate re-creation of his salon evenings in the twilight of his career.
The music that he wrote for them works on a smaller scale than his operas; the vocal demands are less exorbitant, the emotions more subdued, more intimate. The same applies to the Bellini and Donizetti songs Bartoli included.
With her habitual attention to detail, she invested every word with meaning, every note with colour. Her pianissimos are exquisite and if her trill is less heavenly than it once was, it remains a delight. Wonder to behold, it even became a yodel for Rossini’s The Tyrolean Orphan.
She is a natural comedian, but her will to make us laugh sometimes drained away the humour, while in sad songs, she seemed unwilling to find a register other than full-on tragic. This material could survive a lighter touch.
Still, she is a treasure. With Sergio Ciomei’s ideal accompaniment, only a churl would complain for long. Her encores included Ernesto de Curtis’s defiantly sentimental Non ti scordar di me: “Don’t forget me”. We shan’t.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Just seen "The Retrotones" live at the Dublin Castle in camden on the 20th Dec 2008. They are so cool, their tunes ooze with deep punchy tones and funky riffs, mixed with great vocals, original material and absolutely pukka !
These boys are going places I am certain.
- Lucy Hood, Hornchurch Essex
