‘Don Giovanni’ Is One of the Greatest Works Ever Written. Why Is It So Hard for Directors to Get Right?

(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 {…}

Jul 15, 2025

Festival Aix-en-Provence 2025 Review: Don Giovanni

The new Robert Icke staging of “Don Giovanni” might upset more than a few spirits. The scenic proposal is certainly disruptive, and its insistence on intervening digitally in the opera’s soundscape is the most acute symptom of “directivitis” (the terrible disease that has afflicted opera directors for the last seven decades). However, I really had a great time watching “Don {…}

Apr 30, 2025

Tiroler Festspiele Erl 2024-25 Review: Parsifal

The Tiroler Festspiel Erl Easter “Parsifal” was not, as some might have thought, Jonas Kaufmann’s “swan song,” either as Artistic Director or as Parsifal. Instead, the new production directed by Philipp M. Krenn, was replete with new directions, foci, trials and errors. A single lane swimming pool; a series of videos built around the landscape that housed the theater; a {…}

Dec 13, 2024

Opéra National de Paris 2024-25 Review: The Rake’s Progress

(Photo: Guergana Damianova) There is a question that has tormented opera fanatics for at least a century: how can opera go on? What sound represents the future of opera? While many, especially in the mid-20th century, leaned toward musicality that was either dramatically disruptive or staunchly conservative, Stravinsky forged a career where he managed to be both. In a world {…}

Mar 22, 2024

Opéra National de Paris Review 2024: The Exterminating Angel

Photo credit: Agathe Poupeney-OnP Thomas Adès’s “The Exterminating Angel” is one of the most successful contemporary operas of the century. Beyond its many productions—the Parisian one being the best of them all—, the opera quickly entered the symphonic repertoire with a very well-crafted symphonic suite. The opera, based on Luís Buñuel’s homonymous film, follows its source material: more than a {…}

Mar 16, 2023

Opera de Paris 2022-23 Review: Hamlet

Photo: Bernd-Uhlig-OnP On Mar. 11, 2023, Paris Opera premiered a new production of Thomas’s “Hamlet” at the giant opera colosseum, La Bastille. “Hamlet” premiered at Paris Opera, then known as Académie Impériale de Musique, in 1868, with immense success. One year later, the opera was presented in London with an alternative ending where the hero, Hamlet, dies, changing Shakespeare’s original {…}

Jan 6, 2023

Allan Clayton to Headline Opéra National de Paris’ ‘Peter Grimes’

The Opéra National de Paris is set to showcase “Peter Grimes,” opening on January 26, 2023. The opera is directed by Deborah Warner, whose production premiered at the Teatro Real de Madrid in 2021. Conductor Alexander Soddy, who worked as the music director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim between 2016-22, will make his Paris Opera debut in the pit. Headlining the {…}

Mar 1, 2022

English National Opera 2021-22: The Cunning Little Vixen

Photo: © CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL Opening night was delayed due to a storm – very on brand for Leoš Janáček, though perhaps more apt for “Kat’a Kabanova” – so nature very much had the upper hand when this new production of “The Cunning Little Vixen” opened at the London Coliseum on Sunday. Director Jamie Manton has previously made an impact with {…}

Dec 15, 2021

Teatro dell’Opera di Roma 2021-22 Review: Julius Caesar

(Photo: Fabrizio Sansoni) In 2005, Vlaamse Opera premiered the first part of the Giorgio Battistelli’s Shakespeare trilogy, “Richard III,” to widespread acclaim. It has since gone on to receive a number of productions across Europe, although it had to wait until 2018 to receive its Italian premiere at Venice’s La Fenice. OperaWire was present for the occasion, and for what {…}

Nov 19, 2021

Teatro dell’Opera di Roma to Open 2021-22 with Historic ‘Julius Cesar’

(Credit: Fabrizio Sansoni-Teatro dell’Opera di Roma) The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to open its 2021-22 season with the world premiere of “Julius Caesar” by Giorgio Battistelli. The world premiere marks the first time since 1901 that the Teatro Costanzi opens a season with a world premiere. The previous time was for “Le maschere” by Mascagni. For the historic {…}

Jul 20, 2021

Xabier Anduaga, Francesco Meli, Lawrence Brownlee & Saioa Hernández Lead Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s 2021-22 Season

(Credit: Teatro dell’Opera di Roma) Italy’s Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced the 2021-22 season featuring world premieres, rarely staged works, and star singers. Here is a look at the operatic performances of the season. Pre-Opening Before opening night, the fall season will see Verdi’s “Giovanna d’Arco.” The work will be presented for the first time in Rome since 1972 {…}

Clive Bayley