Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ticciati, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Robin Ticciati: Line and life in three French scores

Three racy French scores overshadow Kevin Volans's new journey to nowhere

Which of the following has the thorniest dissonance: an early 18th-century dance-drama by Rebel, a symphony by Bizet, a concerto by Poulenc or a new work by South African composer Kevin Volans? If you think it's a trick question, you'll guess the right answer: the earliest. And which of the four sounds the least fresh and novel? My own take on that is the most recent.

The Pearl Fishers, English National Opera

Visually arresting, vocally strong production takes Bizet's oriental hokum seriously

To both paraphrase and contradict one of the many French critics who savaged young Bizet, his first stage work of genius mentions no fishers in its gawky libretto but offers strings of pearls in the music. That's to say, much more than the famous duet, the least moving number on offer last night. I’ve come to love this fitfully ravishing score’s gentle, intimate side but had given up on seeing a less than tawdry staging to solve the opera’s gimcrack orientalia.

Carmen, Live from La Scala broadcast

Jonas Kaufmann as Don Jose clashes violently with Anita Rachvelishvili's Carmen

Will La Scala's new production of Carmen make a superstar of Anita Rachvelishvili?

It was well worth a dash down a rain-deluged Shaftesbury Avenue to catch this live digital broadcast from Milan at the Odeon, Covent Garden. For a start it meant saving a plane fare and a ticket at 250 euros or (much) more, and it also meant eavesdropping in vivid close-up on what may have been a nugget of history in the making at the grand old opera house.
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