Simon Rees writes programme articles and surtitles for most British opera companies, and reviews for Opera, Opera Now, Musical Opinion, Early Music Today and a wide range of other publications. A novelist, poet and librettist, from 1989 to 2012 he was dramaturg at Welsh National Opera. He lives in Cardiff.
André Tchaikowsky's version of The Merchant of Venice combines his love of Shakespeare with his recollections of a harsh childhood as a Jew in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Federico Fellini’s underrated film Orchestra Rehearsal (Prova d’orchestra) was released in 1978, and told the story of an orchestra going on strike against its conductor.
A double bill at the Birgitta Festival staged Scheherazade and the Polovtsian Dances, both performed in costumes and on sets based on the original designs dating from around 1910.
Barrie Kosky's production of Schoenberg's unfinished masterpiece is brought to musical life by Vladimir Jurowski's intense and compelling interpretation.
Hansel and Gretel is often treated as a children's opera, suitable for family viewing at Christmas, but as Richard Jones' production demonstrates, it is a good deal darker than that.
