A newly-orchestrated version of Jonathan Dove’s chamber opera drew some impressive performances from Heritage Opera in this pared-down adaption of Jane Austen’s third novel.
Netia Jones' new production taps into Britten's silvery underworld in a staging dominated by video wizardry which is hypnotically beautiful, but comes at a price.
ETO's charactistically clear, simple production conveys Homer's story with clarity, confidence, and charm – and even humour – from a fine cast, making an exciting start to fully-staged opera at Saffron Hall.
Clever staging and a high standard of acting does much to happily while away the three hours of this baroque opera in the second of ETO's Baroque extravaganza.
Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’Isola di Alcina, performed at the Medici court in Florence in 1625, is said to be the first opera composed by a female composer.
The laughs keep on coming in Liam Steel's glorious 1950s Albert Herring in an English village where pretensions rise as morals decay, while Nick Pritchard shines as our modest eponymous hero.
Le jeudi 4 juin, l'ensemble La Nuova Musica de David Bates interprétait l’un des plus grands oratorios de Haendel, Israël en Egypte (1739). Une restitution décapante, pleine d’énergie et d’ardeur !
J.C. Bach's opera Adriano in Siria, set to a popular libretto by Metastasio, was first performed in London in January 1765 when the nine-year-old Mozart was in town.
A world première of Gabriel Jackson's The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ proved an exciting event for those one hundred or so people who made the effort last Friday evening to attend the opening concert of the fifth Merton College Passiontide Festival.
The Secret Marriage has been a hit from its earliest days. At its 1792 première in Vienna, King Leopold II was so delighted by the performance that he ordered the whole company to repair to his mansion, be treated to a magnificent dinner, “and then play the entire opera through again, immediately”.
Production director Daisy Evans welcomes her audience to Così fan tutte set in October 1943 in Sicily. The set (designed by Katharine Heath) is intriguing, with three propellers along the back wall of the performance space and a small stage at the side set up for an Ensa troupe. However, concerns about the pitfalls of “concept” productions were confirmed from the start.
