Fiona Maddocks

Benjamin Britten’s pioneering pacifist opera | The Observer Guildhall School of Music & Drama present a skilful production of the anti-war work Owen Wingrave, commissioned for TV 60 years ago by David Attenborough

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is as subtle as a ... Brecht and Weill’s revoltingly in-your-face critique of capitalism is redeemed by ENO’s on-the-money production. Plus, the Hokusai-inspired opera The Great Wave

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Così fan tutte on Coney Island is a carnival of mischief ... Phelim McDermott’s end-of-pier staging of Mozart’s prickly comic opera is revived with bunny girls, sword-eaters and a first-class cast. Plus, Liverpool’s secret weapon and Colin Matthews at 80

Phelim McDermott’s end-of-pier staging of Mozart’s prickly comic opera is revived with bunny girls, sword-eaters and a first-class cast. Plus, Liverpool’s secret weapon and Colin Matthews at 80, writes
@fionahmaddocks.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/4agMm66

Ralph Fiennes takes on Tchaikovsky in his deft opera debut The actor serves it straight with a simple but sophisticated staging of Eugene Onegin for the Paris Opéra

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75 An outstanding critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wrote

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

The best classical of 2025 | The Observer Fiona Maddocks on 2025’s best premieres and most popular composers

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Playlist of the week: songs for midwinter | The Observer From Tchaikovsky to Fats Waller, there are seasonal songs to suit every mood

observer.co.uk/music/classi... winter solstice playlist for all - okay most - tastes

The Ariodante is really worth it if you can get there: fidgety first act, but then absolutely wonderful direction and singing.

The Kurt Cobain opera is hallucinogenic | The Observer

Looking again at Last Days - and a terrific Ariodante observer.co.uk/music/classi...

The Kurt Cobain opera is hallucinogenic | The Observer

Looking again at Last Days - and a terrific Ariodante observer.co.uk/music/classi...

@fionahmaddocks.bsky.social in @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Home listening: the best Christmas classical releases, from Rutter to a Cuban mix | The Observer

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Very very sad. What amazing times - anything seemed possible

Sad to hear of the death of Andreas Whittam-Smith. A great editor to work for — omnivorously curious, enthusiastic and eccentric in all the right ways.

Vive la farce: Handel’s Partenope returns to the English National Opera

observer.co.uk/music/classi... Partenope at ENO; Die Walküre at Bastille Paris

Vive la farce: Handel’s Partenope returns to the English National Opera

observer.co.uk/music/classi... Partenope at ENO; Die Walküre at Bastille Paris

#Bach alert: 2 ‘new’ works by #JSBach being announced by Bach Archiv Leipzig tomorrow - reportedly important

#Bach alert: 2 ‘new’ works by #JSBach being announced by Bach Archiv Leipzig tomorrow - reportedly important

Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Just received - 50 great choices from #TomService out soon @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social

A radical reworking of The Makropulos Case | The Observer

#Makropulos #TheRailwayChildren #DeadManWalkibg observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Glad it worked. Let me know if I can help again

Oxford International Song festival hits a note of radicalism New works by or about women powered this year’s Oxford Song festival, tackling everything from Ireland’s Magdalene laundries to the heroines of Iranian myth

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Lmk email and I can suggest

Hi Fiona, I commission writers to work on features (mainly artist interviews) for the Southbank centre's website. I've a healthy list of freelancers across most art forms, but I'm short on writers who have an interest/focus on classical music if you know of anyone looking for opportunities.

What sort of thing do you need?

Wexford festival’s operatic rarities | The Observer Verdi’s Le Trouvère, transported to the Spanish civil war, is just one of the powerfully sung surprises at the Irish waterfront party

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Benjamin Britten’s oddball masterpiece | The Observer Albert Herring is a subversive portrait of stuffy postwar England

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

It’s not opera that’s elitist but the idea that art is to... The myth that culture has not been for the masses is debunked in a new book

observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Well worth reading this

Just arrived - our 6 Nov . congratulations to Hannah French