Verdi
Easily the best thing I’ve seen at the Grange Festival: Falstaff reviewed
‘Tutto nel mondo e burla’ sings the company at the end of Verdi’s Falstaff — ‘All the world’s a joke’…
How good really was Berlioz?
Hector Berlioz was born on 11 December 1803 in rural Isère. ‘During the months which preceded my birth my mother…
At last, a great achievement at the Royal Opera: Macbeth reviewed
At last, a great time at the Royal Opera: a magnificent performance, in every way, of Verdi’s Macbeth, curiously but…
A mischievous, daring production that produces the goods: Iolanthe reviewed
‘Welcome to our hearts again, Iolanthe!’ sings the fairy chorus in Gilbert and Sullivan’s fantasy-satire, and during this exuberant new…
Yet another dud Ballo in maschera: Opera North’s new production reviewed
A chaste act of adultery and a silent conversation: these are the encounters at the heart of Un ballo in…
The unrepeated and unrepeatable brilliance of Maria Callas
Michael Tanner on why the impact of Callas is unrepeated and unrepeatable
Toscanini and the morality of conducting
Toscanini’s simple set of values made him certain of the rights and wrongs of everything, says Michael Tanner – except regarding women
Social comedy at its most lovingly, evocatively drawn: Albert Herring at Buxton Festival reviewed
Someone at the Buxton International Festival had a wry smile on their face when programming this year’s trio of operas.…
That this Fidelio is merely frustrating counts as something of a success
If you want to see an opera director kicking a genius when they’re down — and I mean really sticking…
Shattering climaxes and showstopping singing: Glyndebourne’s Hamlet reviewed
Brett Dean’s new opera for Glyndebourne is a big-hearted romantic comedy, sunny and life-affirming. Only joking — this is contemporary…
Much of Scottish Opera’s Bohème is spot-on – but it begins with an act of petty vandalism
When a composer begins an opera, they create a world. You don’t need a full-scale overture: the tear-stained violins that…
A terrifically good nose job: Royal Opera's The Nose reviewed
The Royal Opera’s latest production is Shostakovich’s The Nose and to paraphrase Mark Steyn, whatever else can be said about…
Stylish designs undermined by elderly tempi: Royal Opera’s Così fan tutte reviewed
The subtitle for Mozart’s Così fan tutte may be ‘The School For Lovers’, but it’s as a school for directors…
Michael Tanner won't forget Dorset Opera's thrilling Macbeth
Dorset Opera seems to receive far less coverage than the rest of the country-house summer shows, although it is in…
In search of Mozart’s Tempest
This must rank as the most heartbreaking example of premature chicken-counting in musical history. ‘Gotter has made a marvellous free…
Placido Domingo was on vintage form in Royal Opera’s Nabucco
Grey men in grey overcoats walking through grey architecture. If you had to pick an image to reflect the current…
Think Brexiters are friendly and cheerful? Try manning a Remain stall
Leave’s grumpy grassroots Sir: James Delingpole should join us at a Remain street stall. He would soon be disabused of…
Verdi’s works are more entertainment than art
Verdi has a peculiar if not unique place in the pantheon of great composers. If you love classical music at…
That Force of Destiny isn’t a great evening is the fault of Verdi not ENO
The Force of Destiny, ENO’s latest offering to its ‘stakeholders’, as its audiences are now called thanks to Cressida Pollock,…
When is a rape not a rape? Fiona Shaw's Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne reviewed
When is a rape not a rape? It’s an unsettling question — far more so than anything offered up by…
Royal Opera's Un ballo in maschera: limp, careless and scrappy
Whether by chance or bold design, the Royal Opera’s two Christmas shows were written at precisely the same moment, between…
Met Opera Live's Macbeth: Netrebko's singing stirred almost as much as her décolletage
This season of live Met relays got off to a most impressive start, with an electrifying account of Verdi’s tenth…
Glyndebourne’s Turn of the Screw: horrors of the most innocent and creepy kind
We all know that ‘They fuck you up your mum and dad’, but nowhere is this more reliably (and violently)…
Opera North’s Coronation of Poppea: a premium-rate sex-line of an opera
Virtue, hide thyself! The Coronation of Poppea opens with a warning and closes with a love duet for a concubine…
Royal Opera's Rigoletto: your disbelief may wobble but your excitement won't
One of the greatest tests of how an opera house is functioning is the quality of its revivals. Both the…
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