Fanny and Alexander: world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s opera at La Monnaie, Brussels

Not only are Ingmar Bergman’s films very ‘operatic’ in their poetic but visceral way of dealing with matters of life and death, opera as an art form had a place…

Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide in Bayreuth

Ifigenia in Aulide: Bayreuth Baroque 2024 opens with the modern premiere of Porpora’s 1735 opera It was with an opera by Nicola Antonio Porpora – Carlo il Calvo – that…

High infidelity – a double bill of comedy and tragedy at Opera Holland Park

‘Cav and Pag get a divorce’ is Opera Holland Park’s promotional line for its double bill, which prefaces Leoncavallo’s familiar Pagliacci with a relatively rarely seen work, Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto…

A Figaro for any time

In some senses this Figaro is a throwback. John Cox’s staging was first seen in 2005, when Garsington Opera still made its home in the gardens of Garsington Manor in…

Andrea Chénier: A final flourish for Pappano at the Royal Opera

Andrea Chénier is perhaps not an opera for purists, but there is no denying that it ends in a blaze of glory. Chénier and his beloved Maddalena exultantly greet the…