Despite rumours to the contrary, English National Opera’s advertising material claims that this 12th revival of Nicholas Hytner’s popular production of ‘ The Magic Flute’ will be the last. Though…
Category: Reviews
ìApollo e Dafneî ó the English Concert at St. Georges, Bristol.
Someone once called Handelís Italian cantata Apollo e Dafne a ìproto-operaî and itís easy to see why.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Among the signal operas of the twentieth century, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1934) by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) is a powerful transformation of Shakespeareís tragedy Macbeth, based on the 1865 short story by Nicolai Leskov.
The Coronation of Poppea ó English National Opera
For some seasons now, ENO has expressed a commitment to reinforce the role of dance within opera.
Der Freisch¸tz at Oper Köln
Do you remember a moment when a piece, new to you, so engaged you that you immediately wanted to know more. . .or all about it?
Jan Neckers on Recently Reissued Historicals
I doubt many admirers of Leontyne Price will be tempted to buy this issue.
La Nilsson: My Life in Opera
Birgit Nilsson probably never heard of “the Protestant work ethic,” but she didn’t need to know it.
MAZZOCCHI: Madrigali e Dialoghi
The Roman composer Mazzocchi is one of those figures known only to musicologists, and it is a pity, for this disc contains first-rate music.
Biondi’s Labors Won, or Unearthing The Lost Vivaldi
An expedition against the famed warring women, the Amazons, ranking as Hercules’ ninth labor out the canonic twelve, provided the subject for the libretto by Antonio Salvi (not Giacomo Francesco Bussani, as hitherto misattributed) that Vivaldi set to music in 1723 as his own sixteenth operatic labor.
Opera at the BBC Proms 2007
Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s guest appearance is an annual fixture at the Proms, and this year the work of choice was Verdi’s Macbeth, in a semi-staged performance on July 24th based on Richard Jones’s new production for this year’s Festival.