The two one act comic operas in this double bill were written as entirely separate works, in 1836 and 1841 respectively. But Stefania Bonfadelli pairs them brilliantly as two sides…
Category: Performances
Agenda-Driven Les Noces de Figaro at the Palais Garnier Undermines any Humour
I sometimes wonder if directors actually like music or even the operas they agree to stage. This reboot of Netia Jones’s 2022 Les Noces de Figaro is a reminder of…
Donizetti’s Historical Epic Caterina Cornaro Has an Added Contemporary Dimension at Bergamo
Caterina Cornaro was a real figure in history, daughter of a Venetian nobleman who became Queen of Cyprus in the mid-15th century when the Republic was at the height of…
The Donizetti Opera Festival’s Temperate and Thoughtful Interpretation of Il furioso nell’isola di San Domingo
Nineteenth-century Romantic opera is notorious for its trope of the person who goes mad – usually a woman whose struggle between her own individual desires, and the expectations imposed on…
Handel and Scarlatti in Compare and Contrast Programme from Les Paladins at the Musée de l’Armée, Paris
Established in 2001, the French period instrument ensemble Les Paladins specialises in the performance and recording of rarely performed Baroque repertoire. The name derives from Rameau’s last comédie lyrique, and…
An enchanting Didon et Énée from the Château de Versailles by Opéra Royal
How often do we see a fully staged performance of Purcell’s only opera where English music and French spectacle combine to such striking effect? If a production could be termed…
Washington National Opera Delights with Classic, Opulent, Yet Efficient Marriage of Figaro
“He does not deserve forgiveness who does not give it to others.” So translates the quote from Lorenzo da Ponte’s libretto of The Marriage of Figaro, prominently displayed on the…
Where Love is a Battlefield: Handel’s Partenope at English National Opera
Has a young woman’s search for a suitable partner got any easier these days? Victorians knew all about the role of matchmakers; a century or so previous to that debutante…
The Monkey King in San Francisco
A sixteenth century Chinese epic novel has found its way to the stage of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House just now, namely “A Journey to the West” by Ming…
Loudoun Lyric Opera Takes Giant Leap Forward With A Cossack Beyond The Danube
Eagerly anticipated by local audiences ever since it was announced last year, Loudoun Lyric Opera’s production of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky’s comic opera A Cossack Beyond The Danube in collaboration with United…