Royal Ballet & Opera 2025–26 Review: The Makropulos Case

(Photo: Camilla Greenwell) Pinching twitching nerves, Czech master Janáček’s angst-ridden “The Makropulos Case” warns of extra life. Lead role Emilia Marty’s present incarnation joins a palimpsest: Eugenia Montez, Ellian MacGregor, Ekaterina Myshkin, Else Müller and the titular Elina Makropulos. A magical elixir has sustained her for three centuries. Strife drives the aria-void work. Through strings unhinged, alarming accidentals and duplicitous {…}

Mar 6, 2025

Scottish Opera 2024-25 Review: The Makropulos Affair

(Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) It is rare these days for a director and their team to allow an opera to emerge solely from its score and text without the need to impose their own reading, offer a new twist, introduce wonderful stage effects, or succumb to the temptation of placing it in a new setting. In fact, to do otherwise is {…}

Mar 4, 2024

The English Concert Marks 50th Anniversary With New ‘Handel for All’ Releases

(Photo credit: Paul Marc Mitchell) The English Concert marks its 50th anniversary with new releases of its legacy project, “Handel for All.” This spring the group will put on a number of special concerts and events in celebration, whilst continuing to build its library of recordings of Händel’s works that are free and accessible. Sopranos Jeanine de Bique and Liv {…}

Jul 11, 2023

Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2023 Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton Normally, ‘heritage’ productions make me nervous. The established stagings summon to mind lumbering Zeffirelli-esque spectacles and unwieldy, moth-eaten costumes. Opera houses resting on their artistic laurels, unwilling take artistic risks. The ingrained conservatism in the opera business that could even prove fatal for the art form. But, Peter Hall’s production of Benjamin {…}

Mar 11, 2023

Giselle Allen, Sébastien Guèze & Robert Hayward Lead Opera Norths’ 2023-24 Season

Opera North has announced its 2023-24 season, which will be split into autumn and spring. Henry Waddington, Helen Évora, Isabelle Peters, Egor Zhuravskii, Richard Burkhard, and Tichina Vaughn lead Verdi’s “Falstaff.” Garry Walker and Martin Pickard conduct the production by Jo Davies. Performance Dates: Sept. 28-Nov. 18, 2023 Andri Björn Róbertsson, Anna Dennis, James Laing, Patrick Terry, Callum Thorpe, Xavier Hetherington, and {…}

Sep 19, 2022

Vache Baroque Festival 2022 Review: La Descente d’Orphée Aux Enfers

(Photo: The Photography Shed) Situated in the shade of the Chiltern Hills on the outskirts of London lies The Vache, a country house dating from the 16th century, with extensive grounds covering 86 acres. In 2020, it became the venue for Vache Baroque, a late summer festival dedicated to the performance of baroque music, under the stewardship of Betty Makharinsky {…}

Jan 21, 2022

BBC Symphony Orchestra Announces ‘Total Immersion: Music for the End of Time’

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is set to present its program “Total Immersion: Music for the End of Time” on Jan. 23, 2022 in Barbican Hall. Events for Total Immersion Day will begin that morning at 10:30 a.m. with the showing of the film “The Music of Terezín.” The first concert starts at 1:30 p.m. featuring “The Theresienstadt Orchestra,” followed by {…}

Oct 30, 2020

Sir John Tomlinson, Emma Bell & Louise Alder Lead Grange Festival 2021 Edition

(Credits: Opera Online website / Paul Foster-Williams / Gerard Collett) The Grange Festival has announced its 2021 edition which will feature several opera productions headline by opera’s greatest stars. Here is the breakdown of what’s in store for 2021. Britten’s operatic masterpiece “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will open the festival. The opera will feature Alexander Chance in the role of {…}

Aug 24, 2020

Lise Davidsen, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Ana Maria Martinez, Jennifer Rowley Headline Top 10 Operas to Stream this Week

This is it. Next week will bring us into the traditional fall opera season where most opera companies would have initially started to open up their initial productions. In Europe, this trend will continue. In North America, it won’t. So the streaming will continue in unique and diverse formats. This week’s recommendations are no different. As always, don’t forget to {…}

Aug 19, 2020

Gerald Finley Headlines Final Opera of Glyndebourne Open House Virtual Festival

(Credit: Tristram Kenton/Glyndebourne) Glyndebourne has announced the final opera that will be featured as part of its virtual festival. Starting on August 30, and running through Sept. 6, 2020, the organization will present “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” in a production by Sir David McVicar. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a cast starring Marco Jentzsch, Anna Gabler, Topi Lehtipuu, Alastair Miles, Johannes Martin {…}

Feb 25, 2020

Mary Bevan, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Iestyn Davies Headline Handel + Haydn Society 2020-21 Season

The Handel + Haydn Society has announced its 2020-21 season, which features a wide range of performances, including 10 company premieres. As always, our focus will be on performances of the operatic and vocal variety. The season kicks off with a performance of Brahms’ “A German Requiem” featuring soprano Amanda Majeski and baritone Ryan McKinny. Conductor Harry Bicket will lead {…}

henry waddington