A Dramatically Compelling Iphigénie en Tauride at the Coliseum First nights at the ENO always bring out the dandies. Philip Sallon looked dashing in his cavalier’s outfit, and Michael Portillo was taking a break from his train journeying in a striking plum jacket. But the real star last night was the music. It was the […]
Tosca, English National Opera
Tosca-Art as Resistance ENO brings Tosca, this titan of the opera canon to a contemporary, vaguely ’80s Eastern European, setting. In its most successful moments, it is rousing and infused with urgency, but the dramatic punch of Act Two doesn’t land, and the cast is uneven. The entire drama is set in a concert hall. […]
Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at the Royal Opera House
Costa-Jackson Brings her Signature Swagger to Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen Director Damiano Michieletto’s take on George Bizet’s Carmen opened last night for its third outing at Covent Garden. Italian-American mezzo-soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson as fiery Carmen and American tenor Russell Thomas as the jealous and despairing Don José are heading up a top-notch cast. Carmen is one of […]
4.48 Psychosis, Royal Opera House
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 […]