Melodrama: literally, the joining of music (melos) and drama. The word has various connotations, though, relating to genre, method and expression. Denoting a work for narrator and instruments, and sometimes…
La donna del lago at the Buxton International Festival
Rossini’s operas for Naples, where he was music director of the Royal theatres from 1815 to 1821 represent an important strand in the development of his opera. There he had…
“Resurrection” in Aix
Gustav Mahler himself once offered a program guide to his magnificent symphonic resurrection, later renounced. Just now at the Aix Festival stage director Romeo Castellucci has tried again, and maybe…
Chiaroscuro expressionism: Keith Warner’s Otello is revived at the Royal Opera House
Keith Warner’s Otello is a crucible of darkness and light. The minimalism of Warner’s conception and design seemed even more striking to me during the opening night of this second…
Idomeneo at the Aix Festival
Idomeneo, said to be one of the great operas of all times in a magnificent production at Pierre Audi’s Aix Festival. Though the Mozart opera seria itself had been filtered…
Kaleidoscope: in conversation with Fatma Said
kaleidoscope (OED): ‘an optical instrument containing pieces of coloured glass which may be rotated into constantly altering, brightly coloured, symmetrical figures and reflections; a constantly changing group of bright colours…
Glyndebourne’s landmark production of Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers streaming on Glyndebourne Encore from 1 August
Opera lovers around the world will get their chance to see Glyndebourne’s landmark production of Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers from Monday 1 August when a live film recording is released on the…
Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at Grange Park Opera
La Gioconda (1876) is a rare visitor to opera stages in the UK and this Grange Park Opera production, originally scheduled for the 2020 season, offers a welcome opportunity to…
Salome at the Aix Festival
A ponderous reading of the Strauss score, a meticulous, methodical staging of the Oscar Wilde drama. A radiant Salome, an unleashed Herod. Unsettling, sentient scenography. Unexpected magnificence. High, very high…
Dragons and slayers: a new recording of Lampe’s burlesque opera The Dragon of Wantley from Resonus Classics
‘A dragon is no idle fancy. Whatever may be his origins, in fact or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation of men’s imagination, richer in significance than…