Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Roland Wood

From Wales to Scotland, The Makropulos Affair defies the march of time

By Mark Valencia, 15 February 2025

Orla Boylan’s creation oozes charisma and reeks of entitlement, driven to emotional cruelty by the lassitude of a life too-long lived.

****1

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****1

Glasgow

15 Feb 2025

The Makropulos Affair defies the march of time

By Mark Valencia

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Fine music-making redeems dull production in COC’s season opening Nabucco

By John Gilks, 04 October 2024

The Canadian Opera Company’s season opening production is musically excellent, but the dated, dull production adds little.

***11

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***11

Toronto

04 Oct 2024

Fine music-making redeems dull production in COC’s Nabucco

By John Gilks

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Edinburgh

Oedipus Rex: an immersive night at the museum at the Edinburgh International Festival

By David Smythe, 12 August 2024

Scottish Opera brings an immersive community production to the Edinburgh Festival directed by Roxana Haines, performed in the National Museum of Scotland.

****1

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Edinburgh

12 Aug 2024

Oedipus Rex: an immersive night at the museum in Edinburgh

By David Smythe

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Marx in London! Dove’s comedy impresses at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 13 February 2024

Marx in London! receives its UK premiere in Glasgow, with David Parry conducting the colourful score, and Stephen Barlow directing.

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Glasgow

13 Feb 2024

Marx in London! Dove’s comedy impresses at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

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Curtain rises on ENO’s Traviata revival

By Dominic Lowe, 23 October 2023

Peter Konwitschny's production of La traviata has its flaws, but in an age of protracted media there is much to be said for his taut production of Verdi's most famous tragedy.

***11

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***11

London

23 Oct 2023

Curtain rises on ENO’s Traviata revival

By Dominic Lowe

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Puccini's “shabby little shocker” fails to shock at COC in Toronto

By John Gilks, 05 May 2023

Fourth time around Paul Curran’s production of Tosca at the Canadian Opera Company is workmanlike and well sung, but lacks the necessary dramatic edge to be truly memorable.

**111

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**111

Toronto

05 May 2023

Puccini's “shabby little shocker” fails to shock in Toronto

By John Gilks

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Sir David McVicar's new Trittico a triumph for Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 11 March 2023

Scottish Opera’s 60th birthday present proves a triumph, with outstanding singing from Karen Cargill, Sunyoung Seo, Viktor Antipenko and Roland Wood.

*****

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*****

Glasgow

11 Mar 2023

Sir David McVicar's new Trittico a triumph for Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

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ENO's new Tosca has conceptual flaws, but delivers on the music

By Dominic Lowe, 30 September 2022

Christof Loy's production of Tosca at ENO replaces Catherine Malfitano’s and, despite being visually attractive, suffers certain muddled ideas. It boasts, however, a strong trio of singers who deliver a committed performance on the production's first night at the Coliseum.

***11

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***11

London

30 Sep 2022

ENO's new Tosca has conceptual flaws, but delivers on the music

By Dominic Lowe

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Sir Thomas Allen directs a delightful Don Giovanni at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 21 May 2022

Set in the sinister backstreets of Venice, this production from 2013 boasts strong singing all around and brisk, bright conducting by Stuart Stratford.

****1

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Glasgow

21 May 2022

Sir Thomas Allen directs a delightful Don Giovanni at Scottish Opera

By David Smythe

A walk in the park with Tosca: English National Opera at Crystal Palace

By Roy Westbrook, 27 August 2021

Natalya Romaniw, a diva to her fingertips, proves an ideal Floria Tosca in ENO's open-air performance at the South Facing Festival in Crystal Palace Bowl.

****1

****1

London

27 Aug 2021

A walk in the park with Tosca: ENO at Crystal Palace

By Roy Westbrook

Edinburgh

Scottish Opera’s Falstaff delights at the Edinburgh International Festival

By David Smythe, 08 August 2021

David McVicar’s Jacobean-inspired production is a true delight, a finely sung production led by Roland Wood as Verdi's fat knight.

****1

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Edinburgh

08 Aug 2021

Scottish Opera’s Falstaff delights at the EIF

By David Smythe

Birmingham

Mirga's Mahler: the Symphony of a Thousand in Birmingham

By Mark Valencia, 19 January 2020

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla approached the Eighth with a clear vision of the music’s structure and a plan to free the life that teems beneath its mighty vaults.

****1

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Birmingham

19 Jan 2020

Mirga's Mahler: the Symphony of a Thousand in Birmingham

By Mark Valencia

Natalya Romaniw an exciting Tosca in Scottish Opera’s powerful revival

By David Smythe, 26 October 2019

Anthony Besch’s trusty Tosca returns to Scottish Opera with Natalya Romaniw packing a punch in the title role.

*****

*****

Glasgow

26 Oct 2019

Natalya Romaniw an exciting Tosca in Scottish Opera’s powerful revival

By David Smythe

Cardiff

Ballo II, the American cut: an indigestible staging by David Pountney for WNO

By Mark Valencia, 09 February 2019

Musically, WNO gets it right. Straightforward brilliance is the order of the day, and plenty of it.

***11

***11

Cardiff

09 Feb 2019

Ballo II, the American cut: an indigestible staging at WNO

By Mark Valencia

Southampton

McVicar's Traviata is still darkly impressive

By Mark Pullinger, 23 November 2018

Even given a routine revival, McVicar's staging has much to recommend it, returning the opera to its literary roots.

***11

***11

Southampton

23 Nov 2018

McVicar's Traviata is still darkly impressive

By Mark Pullinger

West Horsley

Country-house Ball: Verdi at Grange Park Opera

By Matthew Rye, 09 June 2018

Grange Park Opera’s enjoyable new production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera looks a little homespun on stage, but has plenty of musical compensations.

***11

***11

West Horsley

09 Jun 2018

Country-house Ball: Verdi at Grange Park Opera

By Matthew Rye

Crisper, tighter, more relevant: revival of Christopher Alden's Rigoletto at the COC

By John Gilks, 20 January 2018

Christopher Alden’s production of Verdi’s Rigoletto returned to Toronto tighter, more focussed and with fewer dramatic incongruities. Add to this that every aspect of the music making was top notch and it made for a fine evening at the theatre.

****1

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Toronto

20 Jan 2018

Crisper, tighter, more relevant: Alden's Rigoletto at the COC

By John Gilks

West Horsley

Grange Park Opera's inaugural Tosca

By David Karlin, 08 June 2017

Woefully stiff acting lets down an otherwise excellent production; Joseph Calleja impresses in his role début as Cavaradossi.

***11

***11

West Horsley

08 Jun 2017

Grange Park Opera's inaugural Tosca

By David Karlin

McVicar's stylish and moving Pelléas et Mélisande from Scottish Opera

By David Smythe, 23 February 2017

Sir David McVicar’s new production of Pelléas et Mélisande for Scottish Opera is stylish and lit like a painting.

****1

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Glasgow

23 Feb 2017

McVicar's stylish and moving Pelléas et Mélisande

By David Smythe

At it hammer and tongs: Chelsea Opera Group's Il trovatore at Cadogan Hall

By Dominic Lowe, 28 February 2016

A spirited performance of Verdi's beloved work highlighted the virtues of opera in concert.

***11

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London

28 Feb 2016

At it hammer and tongs: Chelsea Opera Group's Trovatore

By Dominic Lowe

Justina Gringyte is a fabulous Carmen in Scottish Opera's Revival

By David Smythe, 17 October 2015

Justina Gringyte is a fabulous Carmen in Scottish Opera's dark take on this most tuneful of operas. Large choruses, including children with cigarettes, and a strong supporting cast make this an enjoyable show.

***11

***11

Glasgow

17 Oct 2015

Justina Gringyte is a fabulous Carmen in Scottish Opera's Revival

By David Smythe

A second helping for Carsen’s delicious Falstaff at the Royal Opera

By Mark Pullinger, 06 July 2015

If “all the world’s a jest”, as Sir John Falstaff claims at the end of Verdi’s final operatic masterpiece, then we need players – and directors – with a sense of frivolity. Robert Carsen truly delivers.

*****

*****

London

06 Jul 2015

A second helping for Carsen’s delicious Falstaff

By Mark Pullinger

Scottish Opera ends its season in great voice with Il trovatore

By David Smythe, 17 May 2015

Scottish Opera's Il trovatore has a uniformly strong cast and shorus who sing finely, conducted by Tobias Ringwood producing spectacular sounds from the orchestra. A wonderful end to the season.

****1

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Glasgow

17 May 2015

Scottish Opera ends its season in great voice with Il trovatore

By David Smythe

Leeds

La traviata at the Grand Theatre, Leeds

By Richard Wilcocks, 20 September 2014

Opera North's La traviata at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, makes an excellent start to Opera North's new season.

****1

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Leeds

20 Sep 2014

La traviata at the Grand Theatre, Leeds

By Richard Wilcocks

Salonen conducts a compelling “Symphony of a Thousand”

By Rohan Shotton, 29 June 2014

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Philharmonia in a fine account of Mahler's mighty “Symphony of a Thousand”, culminating in a dramatic realisation of Faust's redemption.

****1

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London

29 Jun 2014

Salonen conducts a compelling “Symphony of a Thousand”

By Rohan Shotton

Two wins out of three: Julian Anderson's Thebans at ENO

By David Karlin, 03 May 2014

Julian Anderson’s Thebans, a bold attempt at condensing Sophocles’ three Theban plays into a single opera. The result is a powerful piece of theatre which drags the audience into the story of Oedipus’s horrific downfall and death, with its ensuing civil war.

***11

***11

London

03 May 2014

Two wins out of three: Julian Anderson's Thebans at ENO

By David Karlin

Pieczonka floods Canadian Opera Company's A Masked Ball with love and forgiveness

By Stanley Fefferman, 05 February 2014

The Canadian Opera Company’s update of A Masked Ball to the 1960s, Kennedy-era Boston, while problematic, is actually based on Verdi’s experience of staging his first production a hundred years earlier. Verdi’s score flows right into the heart, and Adrianne Pieczonka is irresistible.

***11

***11

Toronto

05 Feb 2014

Canadian Opera Company: A Masked Ball

By Stanley Fefferman

Simon McBurney's ingenious Magic Flute for English National Opera

By Sam Wigglesworth, 07 November 2013

Before the beginning of this new version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute from Simon McBurney, Complicite and English National Opera, one may wonder, looking at the stage, why it was recently hailed as the company’s most technically advanced creation to date: an austere, no-frills set consisting of a single suspended rectangular slab and a raised orchestra pit both reflect this production’s refreshing

***11

***11

London

07 Nov 2013

Simon McBurney's ingenious Magic Flute for English National Opera

By Sam Wigglesworth

The Philharmonia's season opens with Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette at the Royal Festival Hall

By Sam Wigglesworth, 26 September 2013

In one of several (pretty outrageous) notes to conductors in the score of his Roméo et Juliette, Berlioz states that “the average listener has no imagination” and, as a result of this, the sixth movement of the work should be cut in 99 per cent of performances.

****1

****1

London

26 Sep 2013

The Philharmonia's season opens with Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette at the Royal Festival Hall

By Sam Wigglesworth

ENO's new season opens with Bieito's contradictory Fidelio

By Sam Wigglesworth, 25 September 2013

In his production of Fidelio for English National Opera, director Calixto Bieito sets out to completely contradict the work’s central tenet.

*1111

*1111

London

25 Sep 2013

ENO's new season opens with Bieito's contradictory Fidelio

By Sam Wigglesworth

Splendid singing in Scottish Opera's quirky production of Werther

By David Smythe, 17 February 2013

The world of opera can sometimes be hard for the newcomer to love as there are often fiendishly complicated and frequently unbelievable plots to get to grips with. Jules Massenet’s opera Werther is happily none of these: it is a straightforward story of unrequited love.

****1

****1

Glasgow

17 Feb 2013

Splendid singing in Scottish Opera's quirky production of Werther

By David Smythe

The Pilgrim's Progress to the London Coliseum

By Andrew H. King, 05 November 2012

Professional performances of English operas are rare – they always have been – and it is presumably the 60th anniversary of The Pilgrim’s Progress specifically that has prompted this 2012 revival. It seems that without a significant anniversary to justify blowing the dust off a score, English operas tend to lie unheeded – the exception of course is Benjamin Britten.

***11

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London

05 Nov 2012

The Pilgrim's Progress to the London Coliseum

By Andrew H. King

The last revival: The Magic Flute at London Coliseum

By Julia Savage, 13 September 2012

The house was full for the opening night at the London Coliseum, and there were plenty of whoops for conductor Nicholas Collon as he made his ENO debut. This year marks the 25th anniversary of ENO's celebrated production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, and this revival – the fourteenth – will be the last.

****1

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London

13 Sep 2012

The last revival: The Magic Flute at London Coliseum

By Julia Savage

A feminist Figaro

By Intermezzo, 05 October 2011

What’s the connection between Harry Potter and Mozart? Fiona Shaw is perhaps best known these days as the boy wizard’s Aunt Petunia – or our greatest classical actress for those with longer memories.

****1

****1

London

05 Oct 2011

A feminist Figaro

By Intermezzo

Simon Boccanegra at English National Opera

By David Karlin, 08 June 2011

Verdi's Simon Boccanegra explores how the characters of powerful men change (or don't) with age and fortune: the action happens over several decades, and the character of Simon gives wonderful scope for some serious character acting.

***11

***11

London

08 Jun 2011

Simon Boccanegra at English National Opera

By David Karlin

Scottish Opera's Intermezzo: Strauss's Family Joke.

By David Smythe, 26 March 2011

Intermezzo is an opera based on the real life happenings in the relationship between Richard Strauss and his wife Pauline, characterised on stage as Robert and Christine Storch. Maestro Robert takes on a long conducting stint in Vienna, leaving Christine in her country house with their eight year old son Franzl, and a retinue of staff.

****1

****1

Glasgow

26 Mar 2011

Scottish Opera's Intermezzo: Strauss's Family Joke.

By David Smythe

La Bohème: near-perfection at the English National Opera

By David Karlin, 18 October 2010

Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica's libretto for La Bohème has to rank as one of the greatest libretti in opera. It's fast-paced, taut and witty throughout, expansively romantic at times. Most importantly, the wonder of La Bohème is the way it paints human relationships with the pin-point accuracy of a Dutch master or a Victorian miniaturist.

*****

*****

London

18 Oct 2010

La Bohème: near-perfection at the English National Opera

By David Karlin