I heard the Bernstein I really care for in Second Movement's short run in Hoxton Hall of his theatre piece, Trouble in Tahiti, about a marriage falling apart in 1950s American suburbia - a piece he was working on during his honeymoon.  Paul Carey-Jones was terrific as macho Sam, his "there are men" a great showstopper.  Dinah's "There is a garden" was just as powerful, movingly sung by Hannah Pedley.  The Jazz Trio, a chorus who trill away in close harmony about the joys of suburbia, performed with great style.  The reduced orchestra was a bit loud but was expertly conducted by Nicholas Chalmers.  Trouble in Tahiti is Bernstein at his best - ironic, touching and very funny.

The Observer

Trouble in Tahiti : Anthony Holden

Casting directors should kick themselves if they failed to hurry from the Linbury to nearby Hoxton Hall, in the heart of trendy Shoreditch, where the young ensemble Second Movement mounted a rare production of Leonard Bernstein's first opera, Trouble in Tahiti.

Paul Carey-Jones and Hannah Pedley sang superbly and acted convincingly as smooth Sam and desperate Dinah, the seven-year-itch couple that the young Bernstein cruelly based on his warring parents. They must both have great futures in store. Their support team of Alastair Merry, Jane Harrington and Tom Raskin, who played the jazz trio and regaled us with American songs before the interval, are also promise-crammed. The small band played Bernard Yannotta's orchestral reduction with gusto, if sometimes too loudly, under Nicholas Chalmers.

This terrific piece was deftly directed by Oliver Mears, with witty designs from Simon Holdsworth and Alexandra Khariblan. Founded by Chalmers only last year, to give young musicians the chance to strut their stuff in major roles, Second Movement is a group to watch.

Opera Magazine

Mozart & Salieri: a review by Patrick O'Connor

Things went extremely well. Preceded by a performance of Rachmaniov’s Vespers, the opera was staged on a raised platform in front of the altar screen. Some clever lighting made the background disappear into shadows. Salieri’s desk and chairs were turned around for the second scene to become the dining table at which he administers the poison to his rival.

Although in fact Salieri was born only six years before Mozart, he is usually portrayed as being a much older man. In this case, the Ukranian bass-baritone Viktor Rud could have done with a bit more ageing make-up, as he looked younger than his guest, Tom Raskin’s Mozart. Raskin’s high spirits and virtuoso keyboard playing somewhat stole the show. (At the premiere, in 1898, Rachmaninov was backstage to supply the piano part for Vassily Shkafer, but there was no need of any doubling here.) Rud, though, has a fine, rich voice and suggested both the bewilderment the character is meant to feel at the demonstration of the younger man’s genius, and his self-loathing at his cowardly deed.

Nicholas Chalmers conducted, producing a fine orchestral texture from the side of the chapel; the acoustics here are really beautiful. At the moment in the score when Mozart’s Requiem is heard, the chorus had been placed in darkness at the sides, and their voices rang out suddenly, to eerie effect.

Oliver Mears’s production kept things simple but allowed Raskin as Mozart lots of movement, jumping off the platform to get to the piano.