Reading Time: 2 minutesAppearing were 2023/24 Associate Artist, mezzo-soprano, Lea Shaw, along with three of Scottish Opera’s Emerging Artists, the tenor, Shengzhi Ren, soprano, Inna Husieva and baritone, Ross Cumming. The touring production’s accompaniment was provided by their Music Director, James Longford on piano.
Reading Time: 4 minutesThis February, Simon McBurney’s much-loved and enchanting production of The Magic Flute returns to the English National Opera (ENO) for its third revival since its original premiere in the 2013/14 Season. This ‘life-enhancing, gloriously creative’ (The Spectator) production is staged at the London Coliseum in collaboration with pioneering theatre company Complicité.
Reading Time: 2 minutesA needed decampment from tradition, this collaborative performance is ambitiously new The evening begun with Andrea Balency-Béarn’s Appels, a great piece to get everyone in the mood for the upcoming Stravinsky, as written in response to Les…
Reading Time: 2 minutesAn excellent introduction to opera with commendable vocal performances The staging of Ellen Kent’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, framed against a backdrop of Roman columns, failed to impress due to its unimaginative approach, lacking originality, creativity, and…
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you're a fan of opera, take a moment to consider your favorite piece. If it involves an affluent lady and her maid going out separately but ending up at the same nightspot, then you might have a strong affinity for Die Fledermaus.
Reading Time: 2 minutesAn enchanting performance and an unexpected comedic delight The Theatre Royal Glasgow recently played host to my very first opera experience, The Barber of Seville, and I must say it was a dazzling revelation. This performance from…
Reading Time: 2 minutesBBC's penultimate Prom at the Royal Albert Hall saw the pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii take on Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by Domingo Hindoyan. The programme was ambitious and greatly impressive; the concerto was exciting and filled the space of the hall - aurally but also its layered and varied sound took up the auditorium tonally and emotionally. Nobuyuki Tsujii, born blind, gained international recognition when he won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. His talent and technique is undoubtedly captivating to watch and to listen to.
Reading Time: 2 minutesAn unlikely paring of Aurora and vampires - Mathew Bourne’s sleeping beauty gives gothic romance a new meaning.
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis performance of Puccini’s La Boheme by the English National Opera is a stunning rendition of an operatic classic.