Dramatic darkness and vocal delights as Kasper Holten’s Don Giovanni returns to the Royal Opera House

So, after a Così that was wonderfully serene but somewhat serioso, now a Don Giovanni that impresses vocally but seems to have lost some of its giocoso.  Kasper Holten’s production…

Ariodante in concert’ at the Royal Opera House

Ariodante is surely one of Handel’s most ‘human’ dramas.  It’s not just that the libretto –anonymously adapted from Antonio Salvi’s Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, after Ariosto’s Orlando furioso – involves…

Belshazzar’s Feast, London

The English Oratorio season at the Barbican Hall, London continued with Gerald Finley and two very different approaches to Belshazzar’s Feast — William Walton and Jean Sibelius.

Die Meistersinger von N¸rnberg, Glyndebourne

Glorious sunshine for Glyndebourne Opera’s Die Meistersinger von N¸rnberg on the eve of Richard Wagner’s birthday.

Bizet Les PÍcheurs de Perles – Royal Opera House

Bizet’s Les PÍcheurs de Perles is notoriously hard to stage. Because the plot’s so grandiose, the imagination works overtime, dwarfing the music, making it seem puny in comparison. There’s a lot to be said in favour of concert performances because they shift the balance back to Bizet.