The Lady of Satis House: an operatic monodrama by Jacques Cohen

“Miss Havisham is essentially an operatic character!” says composer-conductor Jacques Cohen, when we meet to discuss the recording of his operatic monodrama for soprano and string quartet, The Lady of…

Die schöne Müllerin: Thomas Guthrie and Barokksolistene take Schubert’s song-cycle back to its roots

The first complete performance of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin took place in Vienna’s Musikverein on 4th May 1856, by the baritone Julius Stockhausen (1826–1906) accompanied by the Viennese Vice-Hofkapellmeister, Benedict…

Forget This Night: a new disc by Katharine Dain and Sam Armstrong

Lili Boulanger’s life and composing career were tragically all too brief.  Born in 1893, into an eminent musical family, she was both a prodigy and a pioneer, becoming the first…

The Glass Eye: Hugh Cutting sings a new song cycle by Alex Ho at the Oxford International Song Festival

The theme of this year’s Oxford International Song Festival (previously known as Oxford Lieder) is Art:Song – Images/Words/Music.  The performances, exhibitions and events will bring the visual arts, poetry and…

Donizetti’s Zoraida di Granata at Wexford Festival Opera: in conversation with director Bruno Ravella

In 1822, the 24-year-old Gaetano Donizetti had his first major success when his opera Zoraida di Granata was premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.  The characteristically duplicitous efforts of…

La ciociara at Wexford Festival Opera: in conversation with conductor Francesco Cilluffo

Women & War is the theme uniting the works being performed at the 72nd Wexford Festival Opera next month.  The three main productions in the Irish National Opera House each…

Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald: a new recording on Resonus Classics

In March 1903, The Metropolitan Opera presented a double bill of Verdi’s II trovatore and Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald (The Forest).  The latter was the first opera written by a…

In conversation with the Brazilian baritone, Vitor Bispo

When I attended Royal Academy Opera’s Figaro back in March, Vitor Bispo’s authoritative Count Almaviva caught my ear and eye.  Subsequently, it was not surprising to learn that the Brazilian…

Elgan Llŷr Thomas launches his debut disc, Unveiled, at Wigmore Hall

The press release for Unveiled, Welsh-born tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas’s debut disc, suggests that ‘as a gay musician and composer, [Thomas] became increasingly frustrated by opera’s traditional focus on heterosexual…

In conversation with Liberata Collective: Handel’s Orlando at the Buxton International Opera Festival

“In opera, the most profound music, the most well-chosen words, will not contribute to the drama if the action is not coherent … every detail of the visual aspects of…