Northings | James Munro | Activity

James Munro wrote a new post, Nicola Benedetti: The Silver Violin Tour, on the site Northings

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:23:35 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 26 March 2013
IT IS just about three years to the day since Scotland’s first lady of the violin made her last trio tour performance at Eden Court, so it was too much of a […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Jekyll & Hyde - The Musical, on the site Northings

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:32:27 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 13 March 2013
IF THERE is one thing guaranteed to get my back up when going to a show that I do not know, it is to sit in my seat and open a nice glossy programme booklet to […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Opera Highlights, on the site Northings

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:33:03 +0000

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 12 February 2013, and touring
A BILLBOARD on the stage, amid all the other jumble of a rummage through history, was a reminder that Scottish Opera is celebrating its […]

James Munro wrote a new post, BBC SSO, on the site Northings

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:53:33 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 2 February 2013
MEMORY defeats me when it comes to recalling the last visit to Inverness by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra accompanied by their Chief Conductor.

THAT […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Troilus Ensemble, on the site Northings

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:23:28 +0000

Town House, Inverness, 21 November 2012
TRYING to put a finger on why there has been such an explosion of new arts ventures arriving on the Highland scene over the past few years is a near impossible […]

James Munro wrote a new post, The Magic Flute, on the site Northings

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:02:40 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 8 November 2012
AS THE ultimate art form, opera has a tradition of incorporating symbolism and disguised meanings into every new production as each director releases his […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, on the site Northings

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:21:10 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 28 October 2012
THE STAGE of the Empire Theatre at Eden Court had sixteen outstanding musicians performing on it last Sunday evening.

FIFTEEN of them came from the Who’s […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Opera: La Traviata, on the site Northings

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:15:52 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 4 October 2012, and touring
ONE of the great unanswered questions of life is why do human beings start to go downhill when they reach fifty (well, some of us did!), whereas Scottish […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Glasgow Phoenix Choir, on the site Northings

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:40:06 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 21 September 2012
THE CITY of Glasgow has been presenting a choir for world acclaim since Queen Victoria was still warm, just, so it is maybe appropriate that the present incarnation, […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Highland Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:47:04 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 2 September 2012
WITH the continuing paucity of orchestral visits from the Central Belt, performances from our own Highland Chamber Orchestra are even more appreciated by music lovers […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:40:41 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 16 August 2012
IT IS ironic that in a summer when the weather has been little better than depressing, the day when the Scottish Chamber Orchestra decides to bring a ray of […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:36:18 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 20 July 2012
MORE than a couple of decades ago, a critic whose name escapes me commented on the Scottish Chamber Orchestra that “there is no finer Mozart orchestra this side of […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Ensemble and Catrin Finch, on the site Northings

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:40:59 +0000

Queen’s Hall. Edinburgh, 7 June 2012
CIRCUMSTANCES dictated that I was not able to get to Strathpeffer on Friday evening for the only Highland performance of Savourna Stevenson’s new Concerto for Pedal Harp on […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Opera: Tosca, on the site Northings

Sat, 19 May 2012 09:42:53 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 17 May 2012
LIFE is so much easier as an arts reviewer, rather than an arts critic.

IF ONE of those omniscient characters had been in the Empire Theatre at Eden Court […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:21:05 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 2 May 2012
THE 2011-12 Orchestral Season at Eden Court was brought to a thoroughly enjoyable climax on Wednesday with a visit by the admirable Scottish Chamber Orchestra […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Inverness Choral: Verdi Requiem, on the site Northings

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:56:16 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 28 April 2012
FOR 138 years, ever since the first performance, the argument has raged over whether Verdi’s Requiem is too theatrical a work to fall within the genre of […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Opera Bohemia: Lucia di Lammermoor, on the site Northings

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:31:03 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 29 March 2012
KIRKCALDY-based Opera Bohemia seem to have a thing about tragic love stories in which the heroine ends up dead.

Last year, in their debut production, it was La Boheme […]

James Munro wrote a new post, BBC SSO, on the site Northings

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:03:38 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 30 March 2012
A LITRE of fuel to a Cornish pasty says that most of the audience for Friday’s BBC SSO concert had never heard three of the four items on the programme […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Spaghetti Western Orchestra, on the site Northings

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:28:13 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 17 March 2012
THE LAST time anything as zany as the Spaghetti Western Orchestra was seen at Eden Court was when the Italian mime artist Ennio Marchetto dressed himself in […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Inverness Opera: Guys and Dolls, on the site Northings

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:51:17 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 21 March 2012 TELL ME! How is a guy meant to be able to get to sleep at night after being exposed to nearly three hours of the sort of songs that go round and round in the brain, and you can’t get them to go away! NOT THAT you necessarily want […]

James Munro wrote a new post, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, on the site Northings

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:56:24 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 24 February 2012 MODERN convention demands that at least one piece in a concert, usually a fairly modern composition, should make the audience think. Fair enough, for without such a policy classical music would stagnate over time. But if you want to fill the concert hall, then promoting three well-loved…[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, Sederunt, on the site Northings

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:56:07 +0000

St. John’s Church, Arpafeelie, 5 February 2012 I CONFESS! I broke my cardinal rule and went along to the Sunday afternoon concert at St John’s Church, Arpafeelie, without doing any preparation, other than being attracted by a somewhat vibrant and eye-crossing poster. THIS told me that a group called “Sederunt”, with guests, would be performing vo…[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, Dingwall and District Choral Society, on the site Northings

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:39:28 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 4 February 2012 IN LIFE so many things come and go, but in nearly every community people come together to sing, and local choral societies are a fixture across the length and breadth of the land. INDIVIDUALLY they may wax and wane depending on circumstances and the drive of the conductor, and nearly without exception […]

James Munro wrote a new post, The Barber of Seville, on the site Northings

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:01:15 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 5 November 2011 SUCH was the impact of this Sir Thomas Allen production of Rossini’s all time favourite that it is scarcely believable that it was four years ago that it came to Inverness. The main thing that struck the mind first time around was that Sir Thomas had brought a lifetime […]

James Munro wrote a new post, The China Project, on the site Northings

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:40:02 +0000

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 3 November 2011 AS MODERN technology shrinks the global village, traditional musicians from sundry cultures are able to come together and compare notes, in both senses. World music is developing a cult following and the latest example, The China Project, received its very first outing in this concert. The …[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, Jamie MacDougall Sings The Kenneth McKellar Songbook, on the site Northings

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:08:05 +0000

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 14 October 2011 MEMORY can play funny tricks on the mind, and so much has changed since Kenneth McKellar was ever-present in the musical life of Scotland that it is hard to believe that he was performing right up to 1997 and died only last year, having gone to live near his […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Liz McLardy and Anne McIntyre: A Few Choice Women, on the site Northings

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:44:12 +0000

Tore Art Gallery, Tore, 17 September 2011 AT THE risk of getting myself into trouble, performances by soprano and piano bring to mind the old adage about buses. You wait for ages for one to come along, then several come at once! Also remember the immortal description of the omnibus by Flanders and Swann as a […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Opera: Orpheus in the Underworld, on the site Northings

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:07:53 +0000

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 10 September 2011, and touring RAUNCHY or what? Scottish Opera’s new small-scale touring production reached new heights, or should that be plumbed new depths, as much of the action took place in the underworld? Strictly speaking this fresh staging of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld is a co-production with the ne…[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, RSNO, on the site Northings

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:41:12 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 31 August 2011 BY THE time last Wednesday’s concert by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra started, late, mutterings in the audience indicated that there were a few things to be sorted. The Pre-concert Talk, which many regard as an integral part of the evening, had been advertised to start at 7.15pm, by …[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, Highland Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:54:25 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 21 August 2011 TWO highlights greeted the audience for the second programme this year by the ambitious Highland Chamber Orchestra as their eleventh season reached a climax with a premiere of a work by an orchestra member and a return home by a local girl who is making it big on the London classical […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Youth Orchestra of The Netherlands, on the site Northings

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:16:56 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 4 August 2011 TWO years ago, almost to the day, I reviewed on this website a performance by the Noordhollands Youth Orchestra. My first four paragraphs concerned the lack of audience with which Inverness had welcomed, if that is the right word, this excellent orchestra of young musicians. Let me repeat one […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Mendelssohn on Mull 2011 , on the site Northings

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:47:35 +0000

Various Venues, Isle of Mull, 3-9 July 2011 IN THESE days of financial austerity with demands on the pocket increasing day by day, it is hard to believe that the event established in 1988 by Leonard Friedman to take a group of young professional musicians to a place of natural beauty, for inspiration and mentoring, could be […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Opera: Rigoletto, on the site Northings

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:41:03 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 9 June 2011 FOR those inclined to statistics it will come as no surprise that Verdi’s Rigoletto ranks at number ten in the list of most popular operas of all time. With a treasury of memorable music, a trio of magnetic characters and a plot buzzing with tension from start to finish, it […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Inverness Area Choir, on the site Northings

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 08:21:14 +0000

Culduthel Centre, Inverness, 1 June 2011 OF all the unusual ways to begin a concert, surely the most bizarre is for the conductor to ask the audience if the parents of David Graham are present. “Good! His loose tooth has just come out. Here it is!” It could only happen to the conductor of a children’s choir […]

James Munro wrote a new post, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, on the site Northings

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:05:50 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 20 May 2011 Isn’t it ironic that Gavin Reid, the Director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra obviously thought he would be on safe ground programming a concert with a distinctly summery feel for the last of the handful of concerts in the 2010-2011 series by the Scottish orchestras in the Empire Theatre […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Richard Smith and Julie Adams, on the site Northings

Sun, 15 May 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 14 May 2011 LET me be the first to admit that my experience is virtually non-existent when it comes to the style of guitar playing that Richard Smith brought to his return visit to the Spa Pavilion in Strathpeffer last Saturday evening, accompanied by his wife, the American cellist Julie Adams. The audience was […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Mon, 09 May 2011 08:27:36 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 8 May 2011 A COMMENT made by a member of the audience at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra concert at Eden Court on Sunday rang a bell in my memory about my review in Northings of their last concert in Inverness, on 11 April 2010. At the risk of false modesty, it is […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Dingwall and District Choral Society, on the site Northings

Mon, 09 May 2011 08:08:03 +0000

Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 7 May 2011 IT COULD be said that Dingwall and District Choral Society’s performance of Brahms German Requiem was twenty years in the making, for it marked the swan song of Norman Bolton’s two decades of inspiring and developing this ardent bunch of fifty or so singers. In his valedictory speech, Norman admitted that t…[Read more]

James Munro wrote a new post, Die Fledermaus, on the site Northings

Fri, 06 May 2011 11:24:30 +0000

Opera della Luna, Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 4 May 2011 ZANY- yes. Unconventional – certainly. Comic – really it transcended into farce and pantomime. Perhaps it is just me, but no matter how hard everybody tried and no matter how much thought and effort had gone into it, this production of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus by […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Opera Bohemia: La Bohème, on the site Northings

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:28:42 +0000

Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion, 8 April 2011 IT IS but a few months since Scottish Opera revived their somewhat imaginative production of La Bohème with all the trimmings of this Puccini pot boiler, so there was a little apprehension about going to another version, this time performed by an opera company established especially for the show by seven […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Emma Johnson, on the site Northings

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:35:09 +0000

Nairn Community Centre, Nairn, 24 February 2011 THERE IS no point beating about the bush. When it comes to clarinettists, Emma Johnson is in a class apart. And in my over half a century of concert-going, I can truthfully say that only a small handful of performances measure up to that given by Emma Johnson, accompanied by […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Opera Highlights, on the site Northings

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:32:48 +0000

Carnegie Hall, Clashmore, 22 February 2011 SCOTTISH OPERA might be placing itself as a hostage to fortune by going on the road in the winter months, but it has become something of a tradition to see the show now known as Opera Highlights reaching the far-flung communities of Scotland during February and March. As the show’s Director, […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Opera - The Marriage of Figaro, on the site Northings

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:45:32 +0000

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 29 October 2010, and touring ALL AROUND was felt the buzz of anticipation! After the popular triumph of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in 2007 under the direction of Sir Thomas Allen and his team, there was great excitement as a packed Theatre Royal waited to see Sir Thomas’s touch on the opera based on […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, on the site Northings

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:35:59 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 21 October 2010 ALTHOUGH the audience was welcomed from the stage to the “first” concert in the new RSNO Inverness Season, perhaps the word “only” would have been more appropriate, while the catchy advertising strap-line “Bach to Elgar” was not used at all. But it was neither Bach nor Elgar that opened […]

jamesmunro became a registered member

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:45:59 +0000

James Munro wrote a new post, Inverness Choral Society - St. John Passion, on the site Northings

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:12:34 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court,17 April 2010 MORE YEARS ago than I care to admit, when I started writing about these musical events, my then mentor, sadly no longer with us, emphasised that I was a reviewer, not a critic, and that when reporting on local performances, err on the side of generosity. This could be quite […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on the site Northings

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:34:16 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, 11 April 2010 OTHER THAN the period when Eden Court was dark for its rebuild, this has been the thinnest season of orchestral concerts that anyone can remember. And after a couple of lacklustre and forgettable concerts by the two larger Scottish orchestras, it was left to the smaller forces of the […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Nicola Benedetti and Friends, on the site Northings

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:45:33 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 31 March 2010 AT THE outset, let me admit that I was not in the best frame of mind to enjoy this performance by Nicola Benedetti and a couple of her friends. I had heard on the grapevine that she was giving a pre-concert talk, although I had received nothing official […]

James Munro wrote a new post, Titanic - The Musical, on the site Northings

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:58:33 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, until 27 March 2010 INVERNESS Opera has a problem. They have chosen to put on a little known show based on a story that everybody knows. Everyone knows that the Titanic strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks with huge loss of life. The problem is that the show […]

James Munro wrote a new post, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, on the site Northings

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:15:26 +0000

Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 5 March 2010 LAST FRIDAY saw the only visit to Inverness during the current season of orchestral concerts by the acclaimed BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. This highly versatile Glasgow-based band has given the Highland audience some excellent performances in the past, so a popular programme of Brahms and…[Read more]