4.48 Psychosis – A Difficult but Deeply Rewarding Watch Philip Venables’s operatic adaptation of Sarah Kane’s final play 4.48 Psychosis comes to the Royal Opera’s Linbury Theatre for the first time. The topic of severe mental illness is tackled with great talent but, more importantly, immense tenderness. The heavy material is handled as precious cargo. […]
The Barber of Seville – Glyndebourne Autumn Season
A Razor-sharp Barber of Seville at Glyndebourne Tonight saw the fourth revival of Annabel Arden’s 2016 production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at Glyndebourne. I saw last summer’s revival and the cast and band sang and played their socks off. Would this Autumn Season’s iteration be able to match those heights? Director Arden co-founded […]
The Marriage of Figaro – Glyndebourne Autumn Season
Glyndebourne’s The Marriage of Figaro Delivers and Delights Last night saw the opening of Glyndebourne’s Autumn Season with the delightful first revival of director Mariame Clément’s Festival 2025 production of The Marriage of Figaro, an opera that has been a central plank of the opera house’s programming since the very first Glyndebourne Festival in 1934. […]
Evgeny Titov’s Parsifal
A Bloody Dystopian Parsifal A new Wagner production is always big news at the Royal Opera House. This season has two, with last night’s opening of director Evgeny Titov’s Parsifal to be followed in January by Götterdämmerung, the final instalment of Barrie Kosky’s Ring cycle. Parsifal is Wagner’s his final opera, a “Bühnenweihfestspiel” (“stage-consecrating festival […]
Tosca from Oxford International Opera
A Full-blooded Tosca Debut for Oxford International Opera Starting a new regional opera company in an era of swingeing cuts to the art form is a high-risk undertaking. But the team behind Oxford International Opera’s full-blooded performance of Puccini’s Tosca last night deserve their flowers for a highly successful opening night at Oxford’s New Theatre. […]
Alcina, Royal Ballet and Opera
Richard Jones’ Sparky Alcina Takes Flight Richard Jones’ 2022 production of Handel’s Alcina had its first revival last night at Covent Garden, with most of the cast, including star soprano Lisette Oropesa, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo and soprano Mary Bevan, reprising their roles. Jones’ Alcina was unfortunate to have been produced in the same year as […]
Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House
A Punchy Don Giovanni to Open the Royal Opera Season The new season at the Royal Opera House kicked off last night with a strong revival of Kasper Holten’s 2014 production of Don Giovanni. Holten casts us deep into the amoral, guiltless world of the eponymous arch seducer. A man whose power and self-belief catalyses the […]
The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Holland Park
A Sparkling Figaro from de Niese Last night saw Wild Arts bringing their new pared-back production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro to Opera Holland Park. For gossips like me, there was an extra frisson of excitement because the production, which fizzes with energy and good humour, was also the directorial debut of star soprano Danielle […]
London Opera Season 2026-27 – Previews
An Exciting Line-Up of Operas for the Autumn The London Opera Season for 2026–27 is framed by the chill wind of cuts at the Royal Opera House, with the loss of 64 jobs. On the back of the Arts Council cuts to Glyndebourne’s touring funding and Welsh National Opera, as well as the reshaping of […]
Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Glyndebourne
Escape to the Country With the hideous realities of people trafficking for sexual exploitation regularly in the news, it’s an apposite moment for a sparky revival of David McVicar’s 2015 production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The work is a landmark “singspiel” from 1782, a German form of opera promoted by Holy Roman […]