(Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photography by Richard Hubert Smith) “Carmen” is unquestionably one of the most popular works ever composed and has become an almost permanent fixture in the repertoire of opera houses. However, this presents something of a dilemma for those creative artists and directors who desire to produce the opera in a more contemporary setting and feel {…}
(Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith/Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2024) The picnic hampers are packed, dinner jackets dry-cleaned, cufflinks wrangled, and drizzle forecast: the British country house opera season is back. It opens with a new production of Georges Bizet’s box-office stalwart “Carmen” from Glyndebourne Festival Opera, directed by Diane Paulus and conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati. This latest version, {…}
(Credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez) The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence’s production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” was a visual stunner. Keeping up a brisk pace, it positively fizzed and sparkled as it zipped along, and had the audience roaring with laughter at what was a riotously funny presentation, full of color and bawdy humor. Such was the director Lotte de Beer’s skill in handling {…}