San Diego Opera ó Il Trovatore

Verdi’s magnificent melodrama Il Trovatore may be the most masculine of his creations, but the production that San Diego Opera presented as the third opera of its 2007 season was a triumph for the ladies.

JosÈ Carreras Collection

A classic Seinfeld episode revolved around a brush with the “third” of the Three Tenors – the one whom no one could quite put a name to.

HANDEL: Poro, Re dell’Indie

Let’s face it, Handel’s “Poro, Re dell’Indie” (in English “Porus, King of India”) isn’t exactly a household name in any but the most dedicated baroque opera circles.

Camacho’s Wedding (Die Hochzeit des Camacho)

UC Opera now have a half-century’s reputation to live up to; they were responsible for the UK premieres of such works as Das Liebesverbot, The Maid of Orleans, Alzira, Oberto and the 1847 version of Macbeth.

BRUCKNER: Lateinische Motetten — Latin Motets

Known almost iconically for his symphonies, Anton Bruckner devoted a great deal of his compositional output to vocal music, including choral works in both German and Latin.

RAMEAU: Platée, Pigmalion, Dardanus Ballet Suites

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, French instrumental music was closely identified with dance and dance suites.

GRÉTRY: Pierre le Grand

Although milestones in the history of opéra-comique, Grétry’s operas are infrequently revived and rarely recorded.

MOZART: Die Entf¸hrung aus dem Serail

With the trials and tribulations of a multicultural society currently at the forefront of the British media, Gavin Quinnís production placed a light-hearted focus on the bizarreness of a group of foreigners being thrown together in an unfamiliar situation.

MOZART: Don Giovanni

This 2005 production of the Mozart-Da Ponte masterpiece Don Giovanni makes for a frustrating experience.

Eugene Onegin ó English Touring Opera

London is fortunate to have played host to several productions of Tchaikovskyís best-known opera in the last three years alone, most recently British Youth Operaís heartbreakingly fresh account last September ñ so it was a risky decision on ETOís part to stage yet another.