Mark Ronan
Mark Ronan

Professor of Mathematics. Author of Symmetry and the Monster — a popular account of one of the great quests in mathematics. Lecturer on mathematics and humanities, including Mesopotamian literature. Cold-water swimmer. Regular reviewer of opera, ballet, theatre.

Latest Theatre Reviews

Ariadne auf Naxos, Glyndebourne, May 2013

May 19, 2013

The house of the richest man in Vienna, where Strauss and Hofmannsthal set the action, transfers seamlessly to an English country house in Act I with delightful set designs by Julia Müer. Wonderful lighting by Olaf Winter showed the gradual ending of a lovely summer’s day outside as preparations for the evening’s entertainment were underway, …

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La Donna del Lago, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, May 2013

May 18, 2013

Two tenors love the same soprano — Elena, the Lady of the Lake — but she ends up with her beloved mezzo, Malcolm. The tenors, Uberto, really King James V of Scotland, and Highland Chieftain Rodrigo, are politically and militarily opposed, and though Elena’s father Duglas insists she marry Rodrigo, he is conveniently killed and …

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Latest Journalism

Wotan’s trolley

In Berlin to review Wagner’s Ring, my request to pay for a shopping trolley was refused. Can the Eurozone survive even stronger differences, and does the Ring hold a warning for us? Standpoint Magazine, May 2013, p. 12.

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Feature

This is the story of a mathematical quest that began two hundred years ago in revolutionary France, led to the biggest collaboration ever between mathematicians across the world, and revealed the ‘Monster’ - not monstrous at all, but a structure of exquisite beauty and complexity.

This book tells for the first time the fascinating story of the biggest theorem ever to have been proved. Mark Ronan graphically describes not only the last few decades of the chase, but also some of the more interesting byways, including my personal favourite, the one I called “Monstrous Moonshine”.

John H. Conway, von Neumann Chair of Mathematics, Princeton University

2013 is Wagner's bicentenary, and Mark is reviewing new productions of several Wagner operas, including:

Die Feen in concert, Chelsea Opera Group, March 2013.

Der Ring des Niebelungen, Berlin Staatsoper under Daniel Barenboim. Daily Telegraph, 12 April 2013.

Lohengrin, a new production from Welsh National Opera, May 2013.

Wagner Dream, by Jonathan Harvey. Deals with Wagner’s late idea of renouncing the world and embracing a spiritual reality embodied in the Buddha. WNO, June 2013.

Productions of The Ring, from Longborough in June 2013, and Bayreuth in August 2013 … plus more Wagner at the Proms, and in the autumn.

Also see my articles Eurodämmerung and Wotan's trolley, comparing aspects of the Ring to the Eurozone crisis.