Category Archives: Opera

Getting the band back together: Pappano leads The Royal Opera’s return to action

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Mark Pullinger

The Royal Opera: Live in Concert Royal Opera House, 5th September 2020 It’s déja vu all over again! The last work staged at the Royal Opera House before lockdown was La traviata, so it was somehow fitting that this Live … Continue reading →

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School for lovers: Loy’s bitter lessons at the Salzburg Festival

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Mark Pullinger

Mozart: Così fan tutte Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 2nd August 2020 Così fan tutte is usually translated into English as “All women are like that”. At this summer’s Salzburg Festival, Christof Loy prefers to focus on the opera’s subtitle, La scuola degli amanti (The School … Continue reading →

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Widescreen operatic chiller: Karina Canellakis unlocks the doors to Bluebeard’s Castle

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Mark Pullinger

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle TivoliVredenburg, 3rd July 2020 There can be little doubt that, along with ballet, fully staged opera will be the last of the arts to return to any sort of normality once this pandemic is over (unless it’s … Continue reading →

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Rebel with a Rimsky cause: Dmitri Tcherniakov returns to the Bolshoi with Sadko

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Mark Pullinger

Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko Bolshoi Opera, 11th May 2020 When it comes to ruffling feathers at the Bolshoi, Dmitri Tcherniakov has form. It was in 2006 that his radical approach to Eugene Onegin caused Galina Vishnevskaya to declare she would never set … Continue reading →

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Aleksandra Kurzak impresses in latest Covent Garden Traviata revival

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Mark Pullinger

Verdi: La traviata Royal Opera, 14th March 2020 Despite Violetta’s fragile health, Covent Garden Traviatas are made of sturdy stuff. Luchino Visconti’s 1967 production lasted nearly thirty years and Richard Eyre’s successor clocked up its 25th anniversary just before Christmas. … Continue reading →

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