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…
STIFFELIO | Teatro di Piacenza
For me, coming to Piacenza every year to see my very last opera of the season is always more than a joy — it is a deeply personal and emotional…
LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK | Teatro Alla Scala
La Scala’s brave decision to open the new season with Shostakovich’s masterpiece is a courageous choice: the audiences who fill the theater on St. Ambrose’s Day in evening gowns and…
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN | OpĂ©ra National de Lyon
After Venice, Sydney and London, the production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann as seen through the eyes of Damiano Michieletto has arrived in Lyon for the end-of-year holiday season. We will…
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA | Teatro Comunale di Bologna
After missing a performance of La Bohème due to a car accident between Parma and Bologna, I absolutely had to make it up to myself and return to this city…
ERNANI | Teatro Filarmonico di Verona
I have to say it straight away: I was genuinely happy that evening. Not only because I was about to hear Ernani — an opera that is sadly not staged…
HĂ„NSEL & GRETEL | Bayerische Staatsoper
Some performances remind us that opera is, above all, an art of sharing — and this matinĂ©e was a perfect example. The auditorium was quite literally filled with children: tiny…
CHRISTAS EVE | Bayerische Staatsoper
Some works seem tailor‑made to ignite a theatre’s imagination, and Rimsky‑Korsakov’s Christmas Eve is certainly one of them. The Bayerische Staatsoper presents a new production by Barrie Kosky, a director whose baroque…
LOHENGRIN | Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma
Opening a season in Rome is never a trivial gesture. In Italy more than anywhere else, a first night carries symbolic weight: it sets an artistic direction, commits an institution,…