Poulenc’s only full-length opera is widely admired and not infrequently performed, but its claustral nature makes it tricky to stage.
Author: Gary Hoffman
The Fairy Queen at Glyndebourne on Blu-Ray
This Glyndebourne production is, as far as I know, the first recording of any semi-opera that manages to impart a strong sense of what this peculiar, and peculiarly British, genre is like.
Parsifal on Blu-Ray
In 1881 Wagner and his wife were discussing the myth of Eros and Anteros,
and Wagner remarked, “Anteros is Parsifal.” Wagner considered
Parsifal a figure opposed to sexual love, Eros’s opposite.
Mansouri looms larger than life in autobiography
http://www.sfexaminer.com/lifestyle/Mansouri-looms-larger-than-life-in-autobiography-98207924.html
Handel’s Serse (Xerxes) at Iford Manor
Something rather extraordinary happened to opera seria in 1738. The
acknowledged master of that time, London’s George Frideric Handel,
presented two new operas at the King’s Theatre: Faramondo and
Serse.
Three Decembers at Central City
CENTRAL CITY — The story is banal: a single mother, an aging actress,
is alienated from her grown-up children.
Semele, Paris
The Parisian press was plastered with photos of Daniele de Niese. The
glamorous 31-year old Sri Lankan-Australian mega-star is everywhere these days:
a new TV series (“Diva Diaries”), a Decca greatest hits CD
(“Diva”), and, with her marriage to Guy Christie of the
Glyndebourne ruling clan, a secure position as the first lady of English opera.
Luisa Miller, Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/993bf4b0-8b78-11df-ab4d-00144feab49a.html
La Traviata, Royal Opera
This was my first Verdi performance in the theatre for thirteen years or so I must have been the least jaded of critics for the opening night of the revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s La Traviata.