One often hears that Berlin has three opera houses. In fact, it has many more. Among the most engaging is the Neuköllner Oper. Situated in a funky Berlin neighborhood, it…
Category: Reviews
New College: Commissions & Premieres
A disc of commissions and premieres may seem a bold decision for a record company wishing to maximise on sales potential. But this is the choir of New College, Oxford,…
Il trovatore in San Francisco
Enrico Caruso said that Trovatore is easy — you just need the four greatest singers in the world. Let us not argue about who these singers may be. Do let…
Eslon Hindundu’s Chief Hijangua in Berlin
Eslon Hindundu’s new opera Chief Hijangua, the first ever composed by a Namibian, premiered in Windhoek last fall. Last weekend, I attended the third performance of its European premiere at…
‘Grand passions and great singing’: Christof Loy’s La forza del destino returns to Covent Garden
This was an evening of big voices and grand theatrical vision. When Christof Loy’s production of Verdi’s La forza del destino was first seen at the Royal Opera House, in…
King Stakh’s Wild Hunt: ambitious, provocative, probing music theatre from Belarus Free Theatre
Belarus Free Theatre’s world premiere production at the Barbican Theatre of King Stakh’s Wild Hunt is stunning, sometimes bewildering and absolutely immersing: a sort of dramatic cross-breeding of the worlds…
At the Venice Fair: Bampton Classical Opera bring a Salieri premiere to St John’s Smith Square
Opera-in-the-garden can be rather a hit-and-miss affair, given the vagaries of an English summer. One night the sky is blue, the sun is benevolently warm, the breeze brushes gently and…
‘Celebrating Women Baroque Composers’: Roberta Invernizzi at Wigmore Hall
Early developments in print technology reveal much about women’s involvement in musical life and composition in the Renaissance and early Baroque. The earliest extant published music by a woman is…
Strikingly impressive Das Rheingold from the Royal Opera House
One might argue with Covent Garden’s pre-publicity claim that this Rheingold is‘a bold new imagining’, but this first collaboration between director Barrie Kosky and conductor Anthony Pappano brings a wonderfully…
FIFOE in Entrecasteaux
That’s Festival International Film d’Opéra d’Entrecasteaux (a tiny village in Provence). The two films of this inaugural year were Francesco Rosi’s 1984 Carmen and Luigi Comencini’s 1988 La boheme (lead photo). The surprisingly…