Mid Wales Opera has virtually created an instruction manual for the performance of community-based opera in rural areas, shrink-wrapping works into spaces that rarely enjoy professional presentation. Its month-long SmallStages…
Month: October 2022
Revisiting familar forms and formats at Oxford Leider
If regular concertgoers thought that they knew what to expect from a lute-song recital or a lieder programme, the second evening of this year’s Oxford Lieder Festival would certainly have…
Battle Cry: Helen Charlston and Toby Carr at Oxford Lieder
The ‘Battle Cry’ presented by mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and theorbist Toby Carr in this early- evening Oxford Lieder recital in the Sheldonian Theatre was a distinctively female one, the programme…
Oxford Lieder Festival: Opening Night camaraderie and conviviality
Friendship in Song is the theme of the 21st Oxford Lieder Festival, and the Opening Night recital in the Sheldonian Theatre certainly offered an evening of camaraderie and conviviality, as…
Idomeneo at the Met
Thursday night performances of lesser-known works often spark memorable Met moments. So it was last week, at the revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo. The house was far from full and a…
A dark, sombre Tamerlano from English Touring Opera
The Mongol conqueror, Tamerlane (1336-1405), doesn’t have a good reputation. Also known as Timur, this son of a nomadic shepherd was a masterful military leader and tactician but is most…
Otello at Philadelphia
Gioachino Rossini finished Otello in 1816, the same year as his comic masterpieces, Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. The latter two are acknowledged masterpieces. Yet it is Otello…
Robert Carsen’s new production of Aida at the Royal Opera House
Finding myself with an hour to kill before a performance of Robert Carsen’s new production of Aida at the Royal Opera House earlier this week, I settled down in a…
Handel’s Ottone opens English Touring Opera’s 2022 Autumn Tour
In his Welcome to English Touring Opera’s 2022 Autumn Tour, James Conway reminds audiences that ‘[w]hen Handel was writing his operas in the 1720s and 30s, it was the only…
The Voice of Black Opera Competition
Twelve international singers are bound for Birmingham to compete for cash prizes and career development opportunities, with five singers advancing to the Grand Final on 5 December Black British Classical…