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Pountney’s vivid Simon Boccanegra finds a welcome new home at the Theatre in the Woods

By Mark Pullinger, 05 June 2025

Sir David Pountney's 1997 staging for Welsh National Opera is given a welcome new lease of life at Grange Park Opera, splendidly cast... with one major exception.

****1

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****1

West Horsley

06 Jun 2025

Pountney’s vivid Simon Boccanegra at Grange Park Opera

By Mark Pullinger

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Anna Pirozzi shines as a queen bee Turandot

By Laura Servidei, 03 July 2024

Anna Pirozzi and Piero Pretti bring Italian sunshine to Baumgarten’s confused production at the Opernhaus Zürich.

**111

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**111

Zurich

05 Jul 2024

Anna Pirozzi shines as a queen bee Turandot

By Laura Servidei

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A memorable 1857 Simon Boccanegra from Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé

By Rohan Shotton, 18 April 2024

Sir Mark Elder conducts his final opera performance as Musical Director of The Hallé, a rare chance to hear the original version of Verdi's middle period opera.

*****

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*****

Manchester

21 Apr 2024

A memorable 1857 Simon Boccanegra from Elder and The Hallé

By Rohan Shotton

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Theatre meets opera in delightful Midsummer Night’s Dream at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 22 February 2022

Dominic Hill brings a touch of the theatre to a finely sung new production of Britten's opera, with Stuart Stratford conducting a driven ensemble.

*****

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*****

Glasgow

24 Feb 2022

A delightful Midsummer Night’s Dream at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

Ivan not quite so Terrible: a Rimsky-Korsakov double bill at Grange Park Opera

By Mark Pullinger, 19 June 2021

First marketed as Ivan the Terrible by Serge Diaghilev, Rimsky-Korsakov's first opera The Maid of Pskov makes a rare appearance outside of Russia, in leafy Surrey.

***11

***11

West Horsley

20 Jun 2021

Ivan not quite so Terrible at Grange Park Opera

By Mark Pullinger

Prom 26: Mozart Requiem trumps the War of the Romantics for energy and drama

By Nick Boston, 07 August 2019

The War of the Romantics – Brahms v Wagner – from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Nathalie Stutzmann, followed by an energetically powerful Mozart Requiem with the BBC National Chorus of Wales on fine form.

***11

***11

London

09 Aug 2019

Prom 26: Mozart Requiem trumps the War of the Romantics

By Nick Boston

Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera: gripping historical drama, powerfully sung

By David Karlin, 06 June 2019

Verdi's most political of operas brilliantly highlights the juxtaposition of personal desires and political imperatives

****1

****1

West Horsley

07 Jun 2019

Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera: gripping and powerfully sung

By David Karlin

Venus Unwrapped kicks off on an uneven playing field

By Stephen Pritchard, 10 January 2019

It was unfair to pair the exquisite madrigals and songs of Barbara Strozzi with a weighty piece by Monteverdi.

***11

***11

London

11 Jan 2019

Venus Unwrapped kicks off on an uneven playing field

By Stephen Pritchard

A dark, unflinching Rigoletto from Scottish Opera

By Gregor Forbes, 18 October 2018

More relevant than ever, the patriarchal nightmare of Verdi's Rigoletto is dark and unflinching in Scottish Opera's revival of their 2011 production, with some striking scenes and fine singing.

****1

****1

Glasgow

20 Oct 2018

A dark, unflinching Rigoletto from Scottish Opera

By Gregor Forbes

Prom 48: Rattle and the LSO play Ravel

By Mark Valencia, 18 August 2018

Neither Simon Rattle nor Magdalena Kožena could resist a tendency to add sentiment.

***11

***11

London

19 Aug 2018

Prom 48: Rattle and the LSO play Ravel

By Mark Valencia

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Aix-en-Provence

Blissful soprano singing marooned in corporate-land: Ariadne in Aix

By David Karlin, 04 July 2018

Lise Davidsen and Sabine Devieilhe produce soprano heaven in their contrasting vocal styles. Katie Mitchell’s staging feels disappointingly familiar.

***11

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***11

Aix-en-Provence

05 Jul 2018

Blissful soprano singing: Ariadne in Aix

By David Karlin

Monteverdi on a doughnut: A drab Return of Ulysses fails to thrill the Roundhouse

By David Karlin, 10 January 2018

A series of ill-advised staging choices leads to a disappointingly drab performance of Monteverdi's Homeric epic.

**111

**111

London

11 Jan 2018

Monteverdi on a doughnut: Ulysses fails to thrill

By David Karlin

Ekaterina Bakanova a touchingly fragile Violetta in Covent Garden Traviata

By Mark Pullinger, 14 June 2017

Two years ago, Russian soprano Ekaterina Bakanova was thrust into her Royal Opera debut, stepping in at short notice as Violetta. Her triumph was enough for the powers that be to offer her a run of five performances this month.

***11

***11

London

15 Jun 2017

Ekaterina Bakanova a touchingly fragile Violetta

By Mark Pullinger

Excellent in parts: Kaspar Holten's new Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Covent Garden

By David Karlin, 11 March 2017

Holten's masonic lodge setting of Meistersinger gets a lot right but is occasionally uneven; Terfel and Hughes Jones are constantly good to listen to.

***11

***11

London

12 Mar 2017

Excellent in parts: Meistersinger at Covent Garden

By David Karlin

La traviata at Covent Garden: imperfect but enjoyable

By David Karlin, 16 January 2017

Richard Eyre's uncomplicated production remains as watchable as ever; Joyce El-Khoury makes a promising Covent Garden debut.

***11

***11

London

17 Jan 2017

La traviata at Covent Garden: imperfect but enjoyable

By David Karlin

Vaudeville. Nasality. Shostakovich. Kosky.

By David Karlin, 20 October 2016

I arrived at the Royal Opera House in the usual way, settled into my seat, and – could you believe it – the opera was gone!

*****

*****

London

21 Oct 2016

Vaudeville. Nasality. Shostakovich. Kosky.

By David Karlin

Bright singing, grim staging: the JPYA Summer Performance at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 17 July 2016

A disappointing staging for the Jette Parker Young Artists' annual showcase at the Royal Opera House.

***11

***11

London

17 Jul 2016

Bright singing, grim staging

By Mark Pullinger

Classical Opera's Don Giovanni: a masterclass in concert performance

By Dominic Lowe, 17 June 2016

Ian Page assembled a fine cast, with a particularly good Leporello from David Soar for yet another superb performance of Mozart from Classical Opera.

****1

****1

London

18 Jun 2016

Classical Opera's Don Giovanni at Cadogan Hall

By Dominic Lowe

Clear singing, obscure production: Domingo and Monastyrska in Nabucco

By David Karlin, 06 June 2016

Liudmyla Monstyrska and John Relyea turn in strong performances and Plácido Domingo confirms his hallowed status, but Daniele Abbado's direction remains unappealing in this first revival.

***11

***11

London

07 Jun 2016

Nabucco: Clear singing, obscure production

By David Karlin

Jaho and Larsson break hearts, Gallo and Hurrell mend them in The Royal Opera's Trittico

By David Karlin, 25 February 2016

A blistering performance of Suor Angelica is the highlight of this strongly performed revival of Richard Jones' 2011 production.

****1

****1

London

26 Feb 2016

Jaho and Larsson break hearts, Gallo and Hurrell mend them

By David Karlin

Firing blanks: a disappointing Tosca at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 11 January 2016

A clumsily directed, poorly sung Tosca at the ROH made for a dispiriting evening.

**111

**111

London

11 Jan 2016

Firing blanks: Tosca at Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger

Seeing double: Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin returns to Covent Garden

By Mark Pullinger, 19 December 2015

Would a younger soprano taking the role of Tatyana blur Kasper Holten's "dancing doubles" vision of Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House?

****1

****1

London

20 Dec 2015

Seeing double: Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin

By Mark Pullinger

Cabin pressure rising: Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse at the Linbury

By Charlotte Valori, 22 October 2015

The Royal Opera House get us in the mood for Halloween with a deliciously creepy, lean production of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse.

****1

****1

London

24 Oct 2015

Cabin pressure rising: The Lighthouse

By Charlotte Valori

Prom 25: Monteverdi's Orfeo forever fresh in Gardiner's hands

By Charlotte Valori, 04 August 2015

A joyously fresh and zesty Orfeo, played on a selection of period instruments and with a magnificent leading tenor, makes for a superb evening of Monteverdi with Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

****1

****1

London

05 Aug 2015

Monteverdi's Orfeo forever fresh in Gardiner's hands

By Charlotte Valori

A world unlike any other: Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts Monteverdi' L'Orfeo

By Matthew Richard Martinez, 25 April 2015

The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists performed Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in Costa Mesa.

*****

*****

Costa Mesa

28 Apr 2015

A world unlike any other: Monteverdi' L'Orfeo

By Matthew Richard Martinez

Save room for seconds: I pazzi per progetto & The Dancing Master

By Charlotte Valori, 02 March 2015

In this double bill, we get a violently enthusiastic little farce from Donizetti which, though fiery, is definitely not his best work; but next, we are treated to the revival of a brilliant, beautiful one-act opera by Malcolm Arnold.

***11

***11

London

04 Mar 2015

Save room for seconds at Guildhall

By Charlotte Valori

A wonderfully nimble Messiah from the Dunedin Consort

By David Smythe, 19 December 2014

With only twelve singers, including the soloists, the Dunedin Consort gives an insight into what the first Messiah might have sounded like in Dublin's Musick Hall in 1742.

****1

****1

Perth

21 Dec 2014

A wonderfully nimble Messiah in Perth

By David Smythe

An Enchanting Evening of Mozart by Candlelight

By Kay Kempin, 07 January 2011

A landmark in Trafalgar Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields was London’s first free-lending library, is home to one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles (The Academy of St Martin in the Fields), and puts on hundreds of classical music concerts each year.

London

09 Jan 2011

An Enchanting Evening of Mozart by Candlelight

By Kay Kempin