In May 1962, three singers were supposed to stand together inside the newly consecrated Coventry Cathedral. Benjamin Britten had chosen the English tenor Peter Pears, German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya for the premiere of his “War Requiem.” The casting carried powerful post-war symbolism: three nationalities united in a cathedral destroyed during the Second World War and {…}
(Photo: Gary Payne) At 26 years old, French composer Louise Bertin launched “Fausto,” an Italian semiseria and what would be her third opera. After a largely anti-climatic and tepid response to the 1831 premiere in Paris, the opera would be shelved and forgotten for nearly 200 years. Now in 2026, Opera Neo has revived the work for the first time {…}
(Photo Credit : © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com) “You sing this piece very well and it is interesting, but not well-known. It’s risky to do this repertoire in a conservative industry that more likely favors the rep they will know and understand. Something they can compare it to.” I’m hearing these words from a successful opera professional. This person is nice {…}
Institutions often outlive their original purpose. Empires collapse, churches lose congregations, universities change beyond recognition, but the rituals remain, transformed into heritage. The question is whether opera is heading the same way: admired as a monument, but no longer essential. Opera was once the ultimate multimedia art form, fusing poetry, music, theatre, and design. For centuries it stood at the {…}
(Photo: © Monika Rittershaus) “Don Giovanni” is an opera of seductions and escapes, moral wreckage and divine retribution, a shimmering mosaic of comedy, tragedy, farce, and existential dread. Yet “the mother of all operas” is also a uniquely treacherous work—at once alluring and intractable, irresistibly open yet elusive. Music’s sublimity rarely fails to connect with audiences, even in a less-than-stellar {…}
(Credit: © Sandra Then) The sounds of history often linger, echoing into the present in ways that demand our attention. Sometimes they whisper, unsettling but distant; other times, they crash through with devastating force. In Germany, the past is never far from the surface, but it has rarely felt as raw and urgent as it does now. At the Hanover {…}
Cerise Lim Jacobs grew up in colonial Singapore and then under the “benign” autocrat and strongman Lee Kuan Yew. Her passport was revoked when her family emigrated to Australia, punishment for an act deemed “unpatriotic.” She was a trial partner at Goodwin Procter (one of the 20-plus law firms being investigated for its DEI-related employment practices.) After she retired, she {…}
Recently the city of Hamburg announced plans for a brand-new opera house—not on Dammtorstraße in the historic district of Gänsemarkt, where the historic Staatsoper stands, but in the upscale HafenCity district. Funded by billionaire Klaus-Michael Kühne’s foundation, owned by the Hamburg-born billionaire in international cargo industry, the project promises a world-class cultural venue. Yet beyond the promise of artistic renewal, {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl) Throughout the entire history of opera, from its beginning in the Francophile 18th century to the American 21st, there have been numerous moments which stand out as having been controversial of their time and controversial even today due to the contentious nature of the events. If one looks to contemporary issues like Anna Netrebko’s alleged blackface while {…}
On July 11, a renowned composer John Adams posted on X (ex-Twitter): This @deutsche_oper production: painful to even think about. “Nixon in China” is so often mistreated or misunderstood. In 35 years I’ve only seen 2 productions that got it right. This one? Clearly a disgrace. But we composers can only babysit our creations for so long. What do we {…}
There are not many editorials that I write and have a memory to start with. The opera industry changes fast as new world crises hit it again and again. Today, we cannot even say if Peter Gelb is the villain or a savior. One of my last memories from Russia, before I left it about ten years ago after Russia {…}