Two years ago, on this very site, I reviewed a matinée performance of Madama Butterfly at Covent Garden; the review was titled A Wounded Butterfly. The beautiful production by Moshe…
Author: Colin Clarke
Janáček’s Jenůfa burns intensely at ENO
One of Janáček’s most famous operas, Jenůfa is a clear masterpiece. Janáček, in his remarkable adaptation of Gabriela Preissová’s play Její pastorkyña (Her Stepdaughter), offers a searing tale of infanticide…
The Dutchman returns to Covent Garden
Tim Albery’s production of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer – which presents, as the composer intended, the opera in one unbroken, 140-minute span and concludes with the ‘Dresden’ ending of emphatic…
A Wounded Butterfly at Covent Garden
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, beautiful though it is, presents issues for contemporary values; hence the current rethink of the Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier production. The Royal Opera brought in Japanese…
Nadine Benjamin triumphs in ENO’s La bohème
The fifth revival of Jonathan Miller’s well worn-in production of Bohéme has brought with it a number of revelations. On the first night (February 3), it was the conducting of…
Tosca returns to Covent Garden
Oh, what a difference a couple of months makes – Tosca returns to the Royal Opera, same production (the long-running Jonathna Kent) but with a new cast and conductor. December…