PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS: 
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
Frances Forbes-Carbines
Frances Forbes-Carbines is an art and opera critic, researcher and creative strategist based in the UK. She studied at Bristol University and at the Sorbonne, and has worked for a wide range of arts and cultural organisations.
Further information: francesforbescarbines.com or x.com/francesforbesca
Articles by Frances Forbes-Carbines
Frances Forbes-Carbines listens to Andrea Bocelli presented using innovative sound technology to an audience of twenty thousand
Frances Forbes-Carbines strongly recommends Puccini's 'Turandot' at Covent Garden
Frances Forbes-Carbines finds Giuseppe Verdi's 'Il Trovatore' at Covent Garden an incredible production of a glorious revenge-fest
Frances Forbes-Carbines finds Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera 'Festen' far from easy viewing
Frances Forbes-Carbines is moved by the singing and the theatricality of English National Opera's production of 'Mary, Queen of Scots'
Frances Forbes-Carbines experiences Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' at English National Opera, praising the music but not the costumes or the set
Frances Forbes-Carbines, in her first feature for Classical Music Daily, gives English National Opera's revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'The Pirates of Penzance' an enthusiastic thumbs up