Heart & Hereafter: Elizabeth Llewellyn shines a lustrous light on the songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Last September, soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn made her belated Wigmore Hall debut, an occasion which introduced me to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Six Sorrow Songs – settings of Christina Rossetti’s poetry which I…

Quiet charm at Opera Holland Park: Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz

‘So, we grew together,Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,But yet an union in partition,Two lovely berries moulded on one stem.’ I don’t know if Mascagni knew his Shakespeare, but…

A New Day: The King’s Singers, Live from London

The King’s Singers’ Live from London Summer programme was titled, optimistically, A New Day, reflecting the series’ theme of renewal and regeneration, and drawing together music ‘with a focus on…

The Golden Cockerel at the Aix Festival

It was Rimsky Korsakov’s last opera, his 1907 masterpiece Le Coq d’Or in one fell swoop (no intermission). In Aix Pushkin’s poetic Tzar Dodon met his fate, his head smashed,…

Le Comte Ory: a riotous romp concludes Garsington’s 2021 season

Announcing that there was a full house assembled for the final performance of Garsington’s Le Comte Ory, the Festival’s artistic director Douglas Boyd was greeted by a spontaneous burst of…

Garsington Opera 2021 Season Awards

As the Season comes to a close, Garsington Opera announces the recipients of its four awards for young artists, presented in recognition of their professional and personal contributions and musical…

Notting Hill Carnival comes to Opera Holland Park, 19-21 August 2021

Opera Holland Park is delighted to announce a partnership with Notting Hill Carnival, bringing calypso, steelpan and Caribbean jazz to the theatre for three concerts on 19, 20 and 21…

Stirring Fellow Travelers Journeys to Des Moines

In addition to the “Big Three” Main Stage offerings in the Des Moines Metro Opera summer season, we were also indeed fortunate to experience their deeply affecting Second Stage production…

Rameau’s Platée in Indianola

A champagne cork pops at the onstage bar under a spate of piss-elegant chandeliers, the music strikes up, and Des Moines Metro Opera’s fizzy, heady Platée is off to the…

The Queen of Spades, a Winning Hand

After the long months when card playing gamblers were relegated to video poker in isolation, Des Moines Metro Opera has triumphantly bolted back to the gaming table with a riveting…