Friday the 13th may carry a reputation for bad luck, but at the Staatsoper Berlin, there was nothing unfortunate about this Tosca. Having seen countless productions of Puccini’s masterpiece over…
FAURÉ · SAINT‑SAËNS · PROKOFIEV | Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Symphonic & Theatric — A Natural Rhyme Some programmes barely need a stage: they play in images, and this one certainly did. Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande Suite unfolded less like a set…
COSI FAN TUTTE | Opera de Monte-Carlo
Don Alfonso sings, “The faith of women is like the phoenix; everyone says it exists, but no one knows where it is!”, paraphrasing a famous aria by Metastasio. The third…
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG | Staatsoper Stuttgart
Opening night for this production, and for many of its soloists as well: no fewer than seventeen role débuts. A distinct air of renewal, then, for an opera that demands…
DER SCHATZGRÄBER | Deutsche Oper Berlin
Restraint touched with elegance returns to the stage of the Deutsche Oper in this revival of Der Schatzgräber, in Christof Loy’s staging, long acclaimed wherever it has been seen. In…
MADAMA BUTTERFLY | Bayerische Staatsoper
There are evenings when the drama onstage doesn’t so much begin as unfold from the breath of its singers — when the emotional temperature is set not by the podium…
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI | Grand Théâtre de Genève
In Geneva, people usually come for the auditory experience, not necessarily the visual one, and proving I’m not one to hold a grudge, it was an enormous pleasure to see…
MACBETH | Teatro Coccia di Novara
Last Sunday, January 25, 2026, I attended a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth at the Teatro Coccia in Novara, and it was my very first time in this theatre. I…
WERTHER | Opéra Comique
Almost a year ago, Pene Pati and Adèle Charvet made their respective role debuts as Werther and Charlotte in a concert version in Geneva. It is on the stage of…
DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE | Opéra National du Rhin
Das Wunder der Heliane? It unfolds in Strasbourg, upon the blessed stage of the Opéra national du Rhin which, true to its reputation, displays both daring and discernment in presenting…