Competition enjoyable
One of many highlights of 2023 can be Elton John’s first look at Glastonbury — a Sunday evening headline slot on June 25 that would be the ultimate UK date of his farewell tour.
If latest exhibits are something to go by, we will anticipate a two-hour spectacular dotted with hits and deeper cuts (glastonburyfestivals.co.uk).
Different Glastonbury names have but to be revealed, however Studying and Leeds Festivals have been swift to announce spectacular bill-toppers. Amongst these showing between August 25 and 27 are Californian pop icon Billie Eilish and Geordie rocker Sam Fender.
Additionally on the invoice at each websites are Foals, The Killers, Think about Dragons and Lewis Capaldi, with a assist forged that features Moist Leg, Inhaler and Becky Hill (readingfestival.com; leedsfestival.com).
Organisers of Latitude, staged between July 20 and 23, have additionally pulled off a coup in asserting punk heroine Siouxsie Sioux, who will play her first present in ten years when she visits the BBC Sounds Stage at Henham Park, Suffolk.
Different acts billed embrace Pulp, Paolo Nutini, The Kooks and George Ezra (latitudefestival.com). Pulp and Ezra are additionally on the line-up — alongside Robbie Williams and Blondie — on the Isle Of Wight Competition between June 15 and 18 (isleofwightfestival.com), whereas rapper Stormzy can be curating a whole day’s leisure when he headlines All Factors East in London on August 18 (allpointseastfestival.com).
One of many highlights of 2023 can be Elton John’s first look at Glastonbury — a Sunday evening headline slot on June 25 that would be the ultimate UK date of his farewell tour
Dancing within the park
Now giving Glastonbury a run for its cash because the summer time’s premier occasion, BST Hyde Park returns with one other set of stand-alone exhibits for metropolis dwellers who don’t fancy getting mud on their boots.
This 12 months’s collection kicks off with Pink and Gwen Stefani, each taking part in on June 24 and 25, earlier than the going will get heavier with Weapons N’ Roses on June 30.
Taking part in their solely UK gig of 2023, Take That, now all the way down to a trio, seem on July 1, whereas Okay-pop woman group Blackpink headline the next evening.
That leaves BST’s ultimate weekend as an all-American affair, with Billy Joel on July 7 and Bruce Springsteen — whose tour additionally visits Edinburgh and Birmingham — firing up the E Road Band for 2 exhibits, on July 6 and eight (bst-hydepark.com).
This 12 months’s collection kicks off with Pink and Gwen Stefani (pictured) each taking part in on June 24 and 25, earlier than the going will get heavier with Weapons N’ Roses on June 30
Britpop’s again!
With Blur and Pulp in motion, a Britpop summer time is on the horizon. Blur play their first ever Wembley Stadium exhibits on July 8 and 9 (ticketmaster.co.uk), and Pulp, who final toured the UK in 2012, launch their comeback at Bridlington Spa, Bridlington, on Might 26 (gigsandtours.com) earlier than competition appearances.
There’s no signal of the Oasis reunion that might convey the Cool Britannia revival full circle, however Noel Gallagher is ready for open-air exhibits along with his band the Excessive Flying Birds. Mixing Britpop classics with solo materials, he begins his tour by headlining PennFest, Amersham, on July 21 (noelgallagher.com).
With Blur and Pulp in motion, a Britpop summer time is on the horizon. Blur play their first ever Wembley Stadium exhibits on July 8 and 9
Ground fillers
Spring sees the return of Lizzo for her first UK enviornment exhibits. Her tour, that includes songs from this 12 months’s disco-flavoured Particular album, will get underway on March 8 on the OVO Hydro Area, Glasgow, earlier than visiting Birmingham, Manchester and London (ticketmaster.co.uk).
Canadian celebrity The Weeknd can also be taking part in main exhibits, performing songs from 2020’s After Hours and this 12 months’s Daybreak FM albums on his After Hours Til Daybreak tour.
He begins on the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, on June 10, earlier than two nights on the London Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium (livenation.co.uk).
And, having been pressured to postpone their December gigs as founder member Neil Barnes recovered from an operation, dance duo Leftfield get their present again on the highway once they start a tour on Might 18 at The Metal Yard, London (axs.com).
Spring sees the return of Lizzo for her first UK enviornment exhibits. Her tour, that includes songs from this 12 months’s disco-flavoured Particular album, will get underway on March 8 on the OVO Hydro Area, Glasgow, earlier than visiting Birmingham, Manchester and London
Gods of rock
Rock followers are additionally set for a busy time, with Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe among the many noisiest sights. Maiden will give attention to tracks from 1986’s Someplace In Time and 2021’s Senjutsu once they launch their Future Previous tour on the OVO Hydro, Glasgow, on June 26, whereas Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe start a co-headline tour at Bramall Lane, in Leppard’s Sheffield hometown, on Might 22 (each excursions livenation.co.uk).
With guitarist John Frusciante again, Purple Scorching Chili Peppers additionally return. Having launched two double albums of arena-friendly rock in 2022, the Californians play the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on July 21 and Glasgow’s Hampden Park on July 23 (livenation.co.uk), whereas Kiss proceed their lengthy goodbye (they started a farewell tour in January 2019) as they play Plymouth Argyle’s Residence Park Stadium on June 3 (axs.com).
2 hundred years can’t dim Mozart’s magic
The Magic Flute (Royal Opera Home)
Score: 
Verdict: Simply what the opera-goer wants proper now
On this season of pantomimes, what may very well be barmier — or balmier — than the unusual amalgam of enjoyable, fantasy and Masonic ritual that Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder cooked up for Vienna within the composer’s final 12 months, 1791?
It finds full expression on this newest incarnation of David McVicar’s 2003 manufacturing, which appears to realize in each comedic and musical authenticity at every reappearance — revival director Angelo Smimmo has definitely breathed new life into it.
The spoken dialogue is livelier and the Three Kids, given a few of Mozart’s most divine melodies, are not prematurely aged as McVicar weirdly conceived them: once I noticed them they had been superbly voiced by a woman, Tharuni Kalavannan, and boys Patrick Devlin and Frederick Mushrafi.
Droll: Gyula Orendt as Papageno
Gyula Orendt, already acquainted as a Mozartian baritone at Covent Backyard, is likely one of the drollest exponents of the birdcatcher Papageno that I’ve seen: an skilled singer who additionally excels in cheeky speech and bodily comedy.
Making her ROH debut, Aigul Khismatullina from Tatarstan makes a formidable Queen of the Night time, greatest when capturing out alarmingly staccato excessive notes, rather less safe when making an attempt to make clear the divisions in her first aria.
New Zealand-Tongan tenor Filipe Manu, whom we now have watched rise by means of the ROH ranks, and Austrian-British soprano Anna Prohaska are sympathetic as lovers Tamino and Pamina. He’s examined somewhat by the very first scene, she phrases unusually in her aria, however they make a good-looking pair.
Brindley Sherratt is extra comfy than ever because the sage Sarastro — whose arias, in George Bernard Shaw’s opinion, are the one music match to be put into the mouth of God.
On the different excessive, Brenton Ryan is a very nasty, harmful Monostatos.
Maxim Emelyanychev conducts with a positive feeling for the contrasting calls for of the rating, and the refrain and orchestra reply nicely to him.
Roles such because the Three Women and the varied monks are well-filled and the puppeteers are as skilful as ever.
Tully Potter
