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 VillazĂłn’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 OpĂ©ra National de Paris. The performance was eagerly anticipated, following a Rheingold that had left…
IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE | Théâtre National de l’OpĂ©ra Comique
It is one of the leading events events of this operatic season: the tout Paris musical world speaks of little else. And with good reason: beyond the rarity of the…
LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES | Opéra de Massy
A full house bore witness to an evening of resounding success. The enchantment was profound, for the work had been long anticipated, still a rarity when set against Bizet’s greatest…