When Donna Anna’s father rescues her from the sexual predator who has abused her, in the opening moments of Mariame Clément’s new production of Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne, he shoves…
Author: Claire Seymour
Royal Academy Opera: Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio
This bright, bold and brisk production of Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio (The Marriage Contract) at the Royal Academy of Music confirmed one thing: that the 18-year-old Rossini knew what…
A smart and sharp Agrippina from Hampstead Garden Opera
In 2017, the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington mounted a landmark, immersive exhibition, Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, which attempted to tell the ‘story of opera’ from its…
England’s Orpheus: Iestyn Davies and Thomas Dunford at Wigmore Hall
One imagines that, when compiling their programme for this recital at Wigmore Hall, Iestyn Davies and Thomas Dunford sat down and drew up a list of their ‘desert island’ favourites. …
Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma: Opera Rara at Cadogan Hall
Donizetti’s melodramma eroico, L’esule di Roma, was the composer’s first major success with opera seria. It premiered in Naples at the Teatro S. Carlo on 1st January 1828, travelled to…
The Peasant Poet: the songs of Stephen Dodgson
There were many things that drew me to The Peasant Poet, a disc of songs by Stephen Dodgson (1924-2013) – which was released by SOMM Recordings last year, marking the…
Total Immersion: Kaija Saariaho
‘Total Immersion’ is a good way of describing the music of the Finnish composer, Kaija Saariaho. The spectral sonorities that she creates by synthesising, manipulating and layering timbres, harmonies and…
Arminio at the Royal Opera House
Arminio was the first new opera in Handel’s 1736-37 season at Covent Garden, performed for the first time on 12th January 1737. After six performances it was withdrawn and remained…
Wexford Festival Opera 2023
Public Booking for 72nd Wexford Festival Opera opens on 10 th May 202370 events, 13 days from 24th October to 5th November 2023 General booking for Wexford Festival Opera opens…
Bampton Classical Opera 2023: 30th Anniversary Season
Bampton Classical Opera celebrates its 30th anniversary season with a busy calendar of events, the highlight being the UK première of Salieri’s ‘At the Venice Fair’ (La fiera di Venezia). The…