As an opera composer, Philip Venables writes works quite unlike those of many of his contemporaries. They may not even be operas at all, at least in the conventional sense – and Denis & Katya, the most recent of his two operas, moves even further away from this standard. But what Denis & Katya and his earlier work, 4.48 Psychosis, have in common is that they are both small, compact forces which spiral into extraordinarily powerful and explosive events.
The Royal Opera House launches a programme of free online content for the culturally curious at home
The Royal Opera House today announced a free programme of curated online broadcasts, musical masterclasses and cultural insights that get under the skin of both ballet and opera and offer everyone a unique look behind the scenes at one of the world’s most famous cultural institutions.
A new, blank-canvas Figaro at English National Opera
Making his main stage debut at ENO with this new production of The Marriage of Figaro, theatre director Joe Hill-Gibbins professes to have found it difficult to ‘develop a conceptual framework for the production to inhabit’.
Massenet’s ChÈrubin charms at Royal Academy Opera
“Non so pi˘ cosa son, cosa faccio … Now I’m fire, now I’m ice, any woman makes me change colour, any woman makes me quiver.”
Edward Nelson Wins 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup
A rising star American baritone who didn’t encounter opera until he was 18 has won the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup as the major international singing competition culminated in a live broadcast on Sky Arts from the Glyndebourne stage.
Bluebeard’s Castle, Munich
Last year the world’s opera companies presented only nine staged runs of BÈla BartÚk’s Bluebeard’s Castle.
The Queen of Spades at Lyric Opera of Chicago
If obsession is key to understanding the dramatic and musical fabric of Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades, the current production at Lyric Opera of Chicago succeeds admirably in portraying such aspects of the human psyche.
Royal Academy of Music appoints Brenda Hurley as Head of Opera
The Royal Academy of Music today announced Brenda Hurley as its new Head of Opera, effective July 2020.