Snip judgment

Rupert Christiansen laments the lost art of the castrato

My Name is Barbara

Barbara Bonneyís discography is extensive and wide-ranging, including opera and oratorio, as well as lieder recitals from Mozart and Mendelssohn through the major Romantics to Zemlinsky.

ENO Directors Admit Past Mistakes, Plan to Stay Put: Commentary

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=a1GhCLEo2e14&refer=culture

Hercules, Barbican, London

http://www.operatoday.com/content/2006/03/hercules_at_the.php

Baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky Faces Demons in London `Onegin’

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aD4.K_nv4V0c&refer=culture

Hercules at the Barbican ó Five Reviews

Hercules (HWV 60) was first performed on 5 January 1745 at King’s Theatre, Haymarket, London. Categorized as a drama, it traditionally has been performed in the oratorio style (i.e., a concert performance). Following its performance as an opera at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, this production by William Christie now appears at the Barbican in London. “This extraordinary opera recounts the tragic tale of a hero literally poisoned by the jealousy of his misguided wife. In this modern-dress production, punctuated by Greek references, the action takes place on a sand-covered, amphitheatre-style arena where the chorus is used as Handel originally intended, to embody the people of Trachis and comment on the action.” Here are five reviews.

Songs for Ariel

Of the countertenors coming to the fore in the generation following Alfred Deller, few, if any, have achieved the prominence or performance longevity of James Bowman.

The three tenors (act 2): opera’s next generation invade charts

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/article351567.ece

ThÈrËse Raquin

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1731679,00.html

Polyeucte, Grand ThȂtre Massenet, Saint-Etienne

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c48c5a16-b511-11da-aa90-0000779e2340.html