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…
THE PASSENGER | Opéra National du Capitole
There are subjects that demand every ounce of tact one can summon merely to approach them, yet they cannot evade the obligation to evoke, as plainly as possible, the very…
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE | Gran Teatre del Liceu
A glittering evening, as beguiling as it was enchanting. The première of a superb production in which the avowed minimalism, guided by a stagecraft as incisive as it was assured,…
DIE FLEDERMAUS | Deutsche Oper Berlin
A vibrant sense of ensemble spirit radiated from the stage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on this 31 December. As for the Vienna of Emperor Franz Joseph’s era, Rolando Villazón’s…
ELEKTRA | Wiener Staatsoper
It was not the rising of the curtains but their sudden fall, like the proclamation of an Old Testament prophecy, that summoned tragedy onto the stage. Centred upon Agamemnon’s tomb…
CHOWANSCHTSCHINA | Staatsoper Berlin
Moussorgsky’s Chowanschtschina stands as a singular achievement: a human comedy transposed into music, a vast operatic river whose currents are as intricate as Balzac’s narrative designs. Rarely performed, its very…
DON GIOVANNI | Opéra de Massy
The concept astonishes, the impact resounds. Thus begins an evening in which, summoned to the stage, the orchestra ignites from the very first bars of an overture foreshadowing the fatal…
SALOME | Komische Oper Berlin
In Richard Strauss’s one-act Salome, the audience’s collective verdict is revealed only at the curtain call. Yet the fervour of the applause last night at the Komische Oper Berlin left…
DIE WALKÜRE | Opéra National de Paris
A full house greeted the première of the second instalment of the Tetralogy at the Opéra National de Paris. The performance was eagerly anticipated, following a Rheingold that had left…