Pier Luigi Pizzi offers a dark, tense vision for La Fenice’s first Anna Bolena in more than a century and a half

Donizetti’s Anna Bolena regained a place on the operatic stage since at least the rediscovery of bel canto repertoire after the Second World War, through the advocacy of singers such…

Chelsea Opera Group thrillingly reveal the wonderful score of Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys

For all that Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys (premiered in 1888) has scarcely maintained any foothold in the operatic repertoire in modern times, it packs quite a punch, both for its…

The Ghosts of Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is all about its melancholic title character. Yet the Danish Prince’s eloquence seduces most of us to overlook the play’s melodramatic plot: a murdered king, usurping brother,…

Boulez at 100: Pli selon pli at the Barbican

The centenary of Pierre Boulez’s birth might well bring with it many performances of his works but perhaps none will be quite so breathtaking in the UK as this one…

A blazing Verdi Requiem: Riccardo Muti and the Philharmonia

It has been 15 years since Riccardo Muti last returned to the Philharmonia Orchestra, and very much longer since he last conducted Verdi’s Requiem with them, so this concert should…