ENO’s The Valkyrie Takes Flight With their deliciously camp production of HMS Pinafore (see our review) it feels as if English National Opera, the ENO, is back at the top of its game. There is a tangible sense of excitement in the air at the Coliseum on the opening night of Richard Jones’ brand new […]
Macbeth – Verdi – Royal Opera House – Review
Verdi takes Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the Opera. The fabulous opening of Macbeth tonight at the Royal Opera House is a revival of the production by Phyllida Lloyd, first staged in 2002 and performed there most recently in 2018. It’s a striking show, one which has both an immediate impact and is pervasive, if not entirely […]
Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle -Theatre of Sound – Review
Theatre of Sound radically retells Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle Theatre of Sound is a new opera company that aims to place audiences at the heart of unique and immersive 360 opera experiences. It launched on November 4th with a brand new and intimate production of Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók presented in partnership with arts organisation […]
HMS Pinafore – English National Opera at the Coliseum – Review
ENO’s Pinafore is Shipshape and Bristol Fashion! Along with latin and rugger, cross-dressing at my prep school in the early 1970s seemed to be compulsory. Some of my happiest days were spent dressed in a frock and bonnet, caked in pancake makeup, singing my heart out as one of the Three Little Maids in Gilbert […]
La Traviata at the Royal Opera House – Review
Lisette Oropesa shines as Violetta It’s the 27th anniversary of Richard Eyre’s landmark production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata and we were invited to the opening night at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. La Traviata has one of the great operatic storylines encompassing sex, death, grand passion, family honour and finally tragedy and combined […]
Jenůfa – Review- Royal Opera House – Autumn 2021
Jenůfa – an accomplished and moving new production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. We are thrilled to review the first production of Jenůfa at Covent Garden since 2001. This season’s show is the postponed production from February 2021 by award-winning German director Claus Guth, with set design by Michael Levine, Costumes by Gesine […]
Royal Opera House – The Magic Flute – Review
A Magic Flute For Our Times How should a contemporary audience receive The Magic Flute? Mozart’s music is extraordinary, capable of conjuring up the darkest of emotions with a lightness of touch that is remarkable. But the narrative of this opera is superficially problematic and can be perceived as misogynistic, presenting the triumph of a […]
Rigoletto, Royal Opera House – Review
A luminous Rigoletto lights up the Garden After the financial and logistical nightmare of lockdown, it is wonderful to see the Royal Opera House roaring back in 2021 with their new season of ballet and opera. The 11 new productions, five of which are world premieres, are spearheaded by Oliver Mears’ production of Rigoletto. Mears […]
La Bohème – Carlisle Memorial Church, Belfast
La Bohème in Belfast with Northern Ireland Opera – Preview We are thrilled to be travelling to Belfast for the opening night of Northern Ireland Opera’s production of ‘La Bohème’ by Puccini. Australian director Cameron Menzies joined Northern Ireland Opera midway through the pandemic in February this year and this staging marks his first production […]
The Marriage of Figaro 2020 – ENO – Review
The Marriage of Figaro 2020, English National Opera – London Coliseum. If you’ve seen Amadeus, there are parts of the Marriage of Figaro that will be strikingly familiar. As Salieri describes the Countess forgiving her husband, he recognises that Mozart’s music manages somehow to convey the depth of human emotions in a way that makes […]