Having enjoyed superb singing by a young cast of soloists in Classical
Opera’s UK premiere of Jommelli’s Il Vogoleso the
previous evening, I was delighted that the 2016 Kathleen Ferrier Awards Final
at the Wigmore Hall confirmed the strength and depth of talent possessed by the
young singers studying in and emerging from our academies and conservatoires.
Author: Gary Hoffman
Kathleen Ferrier Awards 2016
A Conversation with Sir Nicholas Jackson
With its merry-go-round exchange of deluded and bewitched lovers, an orphan-turned-princess, a usurped prince, a jewel and a flower with magical properties, a march to the scaffold and a meddling ‘mistress-of-ceremonies’ who encourages the young lovers to disguise and deceive, William Makepeace Thackeray’s The Rose and the Ring has all the ingredients of an opera buffa.
Powerful chemistry in La Cenerentola in Cologne
Those poor opera lovers in Cologne have a never ending problem with the city’s opera house. Together with the rest of city, the construction of the new opera house is mired in political incompetence.
The Golden Cockerel in Düsseldorf
Dmitry Bertman’s hilarious staging of Rimsky-Korsakov’s political sex-comedy The Golden Cockerel in Düsseldorf.
Simon Rattle conducts Tristan und Isolde
New Co-Production Tristan und Isolde with Metropolitan: Simon
Rattle and Westbroek electrify Treliński’s Opera-Noir.
The Importance of Being Earnest: Royal Opera House at the Barbican Theatre
‘All men become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man
does. That is his.’ ‘Is that clever?’ ‘It is perfectly
phrased!’
Mahler’s Third, Concertgebouw
Evolving in Mahler’s Third: Dudamel and L.A. Philharmonic’s impressive adaption to the Concertgebouw
Handel’s Berenice, London
1737 was Handel’s annus horribilis. His finances were in
disarray and his opera company was struggling in the face of the challenge
presented by the rival Opera of the Nobility. The strain and over-work led
to a stroke, as the Earl of Shaftesbury reported:
Nocturnal Visions and Reveries at the Barbican
Nocturnal visions and reveries dominated this concert by the BBC
Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall, part of a two-day celebration of
the music of George Benjamin which also includes a concert performance of
the composer’s opera Written on Skin.
Bampton Classical Opera 2016
A Double-Bill of Divine Comedies