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Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Ballet & Opera 2025-26 Review: Rigoletto

https://operawire.com/royal-ballet-and-opera-2025-26-review-rigoletto/

(Credit: ©2026 Marc Brenner) “There’s a storm brewing…it’s going to get darker,” observes assassin Sparafucile. How right he is! Moments later, he’s stuffing the pure and innocent, murdered Gilda into a body bag downstairs while his sister is gyrating on top of the dastardly Duke of Mantua upstairs; pretty much as dark as it gets. ‘Manosphere’ and ‘Toxic Masculinity’ are the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Ballet & Opera 2025-26 Review: Tosca (Cast B)

https://operawire.com/royal-ballet-and-opera-2025-26-review-tosca-cast-b/

(The Royal Opera ©2025 Marc Brenner) By the time I got to the Royal Opera and Ballet’s new production of “Tosca” at the end of September, most of the hubbub had died down. The protests around Netrebko’s performance had withered, and her performance was acclaimed – the diva triumphant in the face of politics. So too had dissolved important questions {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Ballet & Opera 2025-26 Review: Tosca

https://operawire.com/royal-ballet-opera-2025-26-review-tosca/

(Credit: Marc Brenner) I’ve previously opined that Puccini’s Tosca is perhaps among the least plausible of tales in the repertory and that the problem with long-running or much revived productions is that, unless you can constantly attract new audiences, they can only stand the test of time for so long. This Oliver Mears’ exciting new production has the potential to {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Opera 2024-25 Review: ‘Trouble in Tahiti’ & ‘A Quiet Place’

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-2024-review-trouble-in-tahiti-a-quiet-place/

(Photo: ©2024 Marc Brenner) It is the first time The Royal Opera have staged Leonard Bernstein’s valedictory operatic double-bill of “Trouble in Tahiti” and “A Quiet Place,” presented in the Linbury Theatre. It is conducted by Nicholas Chalmers, who is also making his Covent Garden debut, and directed by Oliver Mears.  “Trouble in Tahiti” is from 1954, and is separated {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

San Francisco Opera Review 2024-25: The Handmaid’s Tale

https://operawire.com/san-francisco-opera-review-2024-25-the-handmaids-tale/

(Photo credit: Cory Weaver) The West Coast premiere of “The Handmaid’s Tale“, by composer Poul Ruders and librettist Paul Bentley fills the War Memorial Opera House with a performance as harrowing as the dystopic story itself. Delayed by the pandemic from its originally scheduled debut, the co-production of San Francisco Opera (SFO) and the Royal Danish Theatre runs through October {…}