Kate Rockstrom
Kate Rockstrom regularly reviews classical music for Readings. She also performs as a flautist, as well as writing about music and books.
Review — 11 Apr 2012
Bartok, Bluebeard’s Castle
Whenever I hear the words ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ I get a shiver down my spine thinking of the wives, all gone and the secrets that lie in the dungeons. This part…
Review — 28 Mar 2012
Betrothal in a Monastery, Prokofiev
Before I start this review in earnest, I would like to say that I think Anna Netrebko is one of the most beautiful opera singers I’ve ever seen. I may…
Review — 28 Mar 2012
Falstaff, Verdi
Verdi really was the King of opera composition. He wrote 37 operas, most of which are still performed frequently today. This production from 1979, although aged, is still as enjoyable…
Review — 7 Mar 2012
Schoenberg: Pellas and Melisande, Boulez
The cover of this recording has a close up of Pierre Boulez, but what it doesn’t adequately convey is that everyone performing on this disc is under 26 years old…
Review — 11 Apr 2012
Puccini Tosca, Live at the Met
The productions from the Metropolitan Opera in New York are always lavish and completely over the top, just the way we like Opera. Here we have Karita Mattila in the…
Review — 28 Mar 2012
Candide, Bernstein
I find this opera very interesting. Along with Bernstein’s West Side Story it walks that fine line between musical theatre and opera. While West Side definitely has one foot firmly…
Review — 28 Mar 2012
Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky
This production, along with the Delius’ Village Romeo and Juliet are different than any of the others in our April 2012 sale, in that it’s a film version of the…