Well beyond all Tristan basics the Opéra de Toulouse boasted two ravishing singers and an electrifying conductor in this revival of its excellent 2007 Nicolas Joël production. Austrian tenor Nikolai…
Category: Staged Operas
London Handel Festival: In the Realms of Sorrow at Stone Nest
Charcoaled-eyes and glitter-tears. Swirling coils of murky smoke. Twilight-zone lighting. Sensuousness verging on violence. Certainly not what Handel’s wealthy Roman patrons would have experienced when the young composer presented private…
Rusalka at the Royal Opera House
A strange evening: I very much enjoyed this new Rusalka, though found myself slightly haunted by the suspicion I did so more than I should have done. Musically magnificent yet…
Carmen in Marseille
A proven production of real interest, beautifully conducted with an excellent cast just now at the Opéra de Marseille. This Jean-Louis Grinda production originated at the Opera de Toulouse in…
English Touring Opera: Giulio Cesare at the Hackney Empire
English Touring Opera opened its Spring 2023 season with a revival of James Conway’s fine 2017 production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare. The production was revived in 2020, but that run…
Das Rheingold at English National Opera
Like the Biblical cosmos, that of the Ring offers more than one creation myth, perhaps not entirely consistent with one another. Therein lies the dramatic rub. Richard Jones’s new production…
Cilea’s Gloria in Sardinia
Beyond its emerald waters, white sands and pecorino cheese, Sardinia is an opera destination! Just now it was Francesco Cilea’s fifth and last opera, Gloria, at the Teatro Lirico di…
Ariadne auf Naxos in Leeds
Rodula Gaitanou’s production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos debuted at Gothenburg Opera in 2018. A co-production with Opera North, the production finally made its way to Leeds, opening at…
Carmen at English National Opera
Calixto Bieito’s grimly visualised Carmen has now reached its third revival. First presented by ENO at the Coliseum in 2012 (and much travelled around Europe since its launch in Barcelona…
Carmen and Le Trouvère in Paris
Among the most performed titles in the repertory, it was the 30th performance of Verdi’s Il trovatore in this 2016 production by Barcelona’s chic theater collective La Fura dels Baus,…