We’ll never know exactly how Handel’s first opera, Almira, Kˆnigin von Castilien, appeared at its 1705 premiere in Hamburg.
Category: Performances
H‰nsel und Gretel – Garsington Opera at Wormsley
Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid Wette rather softened the story when they came to write the opera Hansel und Gretel, though sufficient undercurrents remain to allow a director scope for exploration of the more psychological aspects of the story.
Britten’s Gloriana, Covent Garden
A glance at the ROH programme which accompanies this new production of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana reveals a striking number of ‘role dÈbuts’; evidence that, since its Coronation-commissioned revelation in 1953, this opera has had a relatively quiet 60 years – hyperbolically announced as ‘one of the great disasters of operatic history’ at its troubled opening.
St. Louis: Winner and Still Champion
With the world premiere of Champion, the enterprising Opera Theatre of Saint Louis set the bar very high indeed for the summer festival season.
The Importance of Being Earnest, Covent Garden
The Importance of Being Earnest , Gerald Barry’s fifth opera, was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Barbican, and was first performed in concert, Thomas AdËs conducting the London premiere.
Death in Venice by ENO
‘Beauty is the one form of spirituality that we experience through the senses.’ In Thomas Mann’s, Death in Venice, Plato’s axiom stirs the hopes of the aging, intellectually stale poet, Gustav von Aschenbach, that he may rekindle his creativity.
Madama Butterfly, Opera Holland Park
There is a sense in which it all began in London, Puccini having been seized in 1900 with the idea of an opera on this subject after watching David Belasco’s play here.
An Evening of Zarzuela and Latin American Music at Los Angeles Opera
The tenor that the audience most wanted to hear, Pl·cido Domingo, opened the vocal program with “Junto al puente de la peÒa” (Next to the rock bridge) from La CanciÛn del Olvido (The song of Oblivion) by JosÈ Serrano. He sounded rested and his voice soared majestically over the orchestra.
CosÏ fan tutte in San Francisco
Tucked away somewhere in the San Francisco Opera warehouse was an old John Cox production of CosÏ fan tutte from Monte Carlo. Well, not that old by current standards at San Francisco Opera.
Rossini Maometto Secondo Garsington Opera at Wormsley
Rossini’s Maometto Secondo is a major coup for Garsington Opera at Wormsley, confirming its status as the leading specialist Rossini house in Britain. Maometto Secondo is a masterpiece, yet rarely performed because it’s formidably difficult to sing. It’s a saga with some of the most intense music Rossini ever wrote, expressing a drama so powerful that one can understand why early audiences needed “happy endings” to water down its impact