She makes a virtue of her deceit, her own accusers come to her defence, and her crime brings her reward. Agrippina – great-granddaughter of Augustus Caesar, sister of Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius – might seem to offer those present-day politicians hungry for power an object lesson in how to satisfy their ambition.
Billy Budd in San Francisco
San Francisco Opera’s Billy Budd confirms once again that Britten’s reworking of Melville’s novella is among the great masterpieces of the repertory. It boasted an exemplary cast in an exemplary production, and enlightened conducting.
Vaughan Williams: The Song of Love
From Albion, The Song of Love featuring songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with Kitty Whately, Roderick Williams and pianist William Vann. Albion is unique, treasured by Vaughan Williams devotees for rarely heard repertoire from the composer’s vast output, so don’t expect mass market commercial product. Albion recordings often highlight new perspectives.
Dear Marie Stopes: a thought-provoking chamber opera
“To remove the misery of slave motherhood and the curse of unwanted children, and to secure that every baby is loved before it is born.”
A revelatory Die schˆne M¸llerin from Mark Padmore and Kristian Bezuidenhout
‘By the year 2006, half the performances of the piano music of Haydn, Mozart and the early Beethoven will be played on replicas of 18th-century instruments. Then I’d give it another 20 or 30 years for the invasion of period instruments to have taken over late Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Schumann as well. If that prediction seems far out to you, consider how improbable it seemed in 1946 that by the mid-’70s Bach on the harpsichord would have developed from exoticism to norm.’
O19: Fiery, Full-Throated Semele
I don’t know what the rest of Operadom is doing to cast Baroque opera at the moment, for the world’s most superlative Handel specialists all seem to have converged on Opera Philadelphia’s stylish Semele.
O19: Edgy, Haunting Denis & Katya
Taking risks is part of what Opera Philadelphia’s O19 Festival is all about, and the opening night performance emphatically gambled and won.
RomÈo et Juliette in San Francisco
The star-crossed lovers were entrapped in an opera mess worlds away from the smooth elegance of Gounod’s score effected by Canadian conductor Yves Abel.
Martin?’s gripping Greek Passion from Opera North
You can literally count on the fingers of one hand the UK presentations of Martin?’s final opera, The Greek Passion: Welsh National Opera in 1981, Royal Opera in 2000 (both under Charles Mackerras), a revival four years later, and now this new production from Opera North.
GSMD and ROH announce Oliver Leith as new Doctoral Composer-in-Residence 2019-2022
Guildhall School of Music & Drama in association with The Royal Opera today announces Oliver Leith as the fourth Doctoral Composer-in-Residence, starting in September 2019. Launched in 2013, the collaboration…