Me, with a cough.

Well, this is exciting.

Another extraordinary residency by The Necks at @cafeotodalston.bsky.social. So inventive & inspiring. 3 days, 4 gigs: 8 new pieces lived, loved & now lost. The memory of how exhilarated they make you feel remains.

Through the fire and flood: ‘Siegfried’ and ‘The Turn of the Screw’, Royal Ballet & Opera From fights to frights at the RBO, as I managed to escape from reality there twice in a week: first to see ‘Siegfried’, the third instalment in Barrie Kosky’s ongoing Ring cycle for the company. Wh…

Upstairs, downstairs… two superb visits to Royal Ballet & Opera for ‘Siegfried’ (main stage) & ‘The Turn of the Screw’ (Linbury) - more enthusiasm in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…

artmuselondon.com/2026/04/06/t...

Some Specs-tras making a cameo appearance…

Wozzecco.
The Gospel According to the Other Bloody Mary.
The Turn of the Screwdriver.

Lots to unpack from the governess’s suitcase in RBO’s ‘Turn of the Screw’: water metaphors, horror film homages, doppelgänger imagery - but it all gelled to fill the Linbury with otherworldly suspense. The amazing cast made it real & sang us into the next world.

Flying solo tonight at RBO for 'Turn of the Screw' in the Linbury. Quite quiet up here when everyone else is already in 'Mayerling'!

👏👏👏 for a beautiful St Matthew Passion yesterday evening @barbicancentre.bsky.social with Arcangelo & a fine line-up of soloists: Nick Pritchard, Alex Rosen, @carolynsampson.bsky.social, Hugh Cutting, Hugo Hymas & Thomas Bauer. Wonderful.

#RBOSiegfried: possibly the most super-charged 4.5 hours of opera I’ll see in some time. Just a brilliant night out: Kosky’s visual inventiveness; a relentlessly physical, high-energy cast; Pappano & the orchestra filling the space with drive & detail. C’mon ‘Götterdämmerung’!

Pair of Specs back in the amphi for #RBOSiegfried. Currently 1st interval & the sparks are flying!

[Pair of Specs staring at general knowledge crossword.]
Me: ‘Do you know the answer to the one about the ancient Greek city? Seven letters.’
She: ‘Reckon it’s Corinth.’
Me: ‘Gah! Can’t be. We know it starts with D.’
She: ‘Dorinth.’

Rounding off @africanseries.bsky.social @wigmore-hall.org.uk this evening in dazzling fashion: the great Tunde Jegede leading his NOK Orchestra & colleagues through latest album ‘Invocation’ (& more). Another fascinating, uplifting festival (🙏 curator @rebecaomordia.bsky.social) - back on 27 June!

Onward with @africanseries.bsky.social @wigmore-hall.org.uk: Gweneth Ann Rand & Allyson Devenish’s special performance (the first, in fact) of Fred Onowerosuoke’s ‘12 African Songs’ cycle in its entirety plus William Grant Still’s remarkable ‘Songs of Separation’. Electrifying. Back at 7.30pm!

Spellbinding @africanseries.bsky.social morning set from Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno singing & playing nyatiti with Rowland Sutherland guesting (plus a great solo number) on flute. Back in at 3pm! @wigmore-hall.org.uk

It begins! Back @wigmore-hall.org.uk for @africanseries.bsky.social - I’m here for all 3 gigs today, Mrs Specs doing morning & evening. Looking forward!

Going nocturnal @wigmore-hall.org.uk this evening: a thoughtfully programmed & beautifully performed recital by @jjohnstonmezzo.bsky.social & Malcolm Martineau. 🙏

An illuminating and fascinating workshop at the Imperial War Museum as part of the Resettling the Colonial Lens project led by University of Nottingham

Page from Sebastian Schedel's Calendarium depicting a Narcissus and a Fritillaria

Hello! I thought this account would be a nice opportunity to share a bit more about the collections and work going on at Kew Gardens' Library and Archives. Here is a beautiful spring-like image of a Narcissus and a Fritillaria from a work by Sebastian Schedel known as the Calendarium

It’s @africanseries.bsky.social time again - three concerts this Saturday @wigmore-hall.org.uk. Chamber, song & large band: something for everyone so come along & get involved!

Book for any (or all - you know you want to) of the gigs here: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/search?term=...

A joyous afternoon of Handel in the company of Gabrieli, @carolynsampson.bsky.social Laurence Kilsby et al at @sinfoniasmithsq.bsky.social. Such life-affirming singing & playing: almost 3 hours of music & I would have happily stayed for 3 more. Energy, emotion, élan!

Pair of Specs, in shock decision to pop into London for some culture!

Tracks of my tears: Fretwork with Ian Bostridge & Elizabeth Kenny, ‘John Dowland’s Lachrimaes’, Milton Court, London 2026 marks the 400th anniversary of John Dowland’s death. Although it’s an appropriately melancholy milestone, once can only rejoice if it prompts more beautiful concerts like this one throughout t…

🖼️🤔👓 Treated to a restorative wallow in Dowland’s melancholy at Milton Court last week courtesy of Fretwork, featuring Ian Bostridge & Elizabeth Kenny. More enthusiasm in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…

artmuselondon.com/2026/03/10/t...

The Sixteen, following a lovely evening of Bach & Byrd @wigmore-hall.org.uk last night.

Queasy listening: ‘Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’, English National Opera, London The city of Mahagonny rose and fell three times in the space of a week in ENO’s recent ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ production. Fortunately, enough people did notice and the entire run sold out &#821…

🖼️🤔👓 Weill away a few minutes with my write-up for ArtMuseLondon of the recent knockout ‘Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’ at ENO…

artmuselondon.com/2026/03/04/q...

“Well, really, R2. Out drinking again?”

As expected, a beautiful concert. Fretwork, Ian Bostridge & Elizabeth Kenny take their bows at Milton Court.

Pair of Specs at Milton Court for an evening of (mostly) Dowland - looking forward!

Brilliant time at the Who event yesterday. ‘My’ Doctor & Tardis crew! Great to see an unsung story get its day out of the sun. Thanks for taking me @davedfb.bsky.social!

Electric - in all senses - set from Olivia Chaney & her ‘News from Nowhere’ band @kingsplacelondon.bsky.social tonight. Notes of Offa Rex but really a brand new, supple, sinuous, driven thing all its own. More, please!