UK Edition
The Merry Widow, Glyndebourne: Danielle de Niese shines in a stunning, if jokey, production
The Merry Widow in this most rarified of country-house settings? She may not entirely belong here, but this staging sweeps you along even so
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The Magic Flute: A new production of Mozart staged with flair and fussiness
Melly Still’s staging of Mozart’s masterpiece at beautiful Nevil Holt is bristling with ideas – which is both its strength and its weakness
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Anna Steiger: ‘My stepfather Philip Roth wanted to control the household – and I was in the way’
The mezzo-soprano on the joy of comic operas, her new role at Grange Park, and her difficult relationship with the late novelist
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Andrea Chénier: Antonio Pappano bows out by making a feeble opera fly
This gaudy 1896 drama is an odd choice for the swansong of Covent Garden’s great music director, but he just about pulls it off
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King surprises audience by appearing on stage at Royal Opera House
His Majesty was the special guest at a gala celebrating Sir Antonio Pappano, who conducted the coronation
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L’Olimpiade, Linbury Theatre: Forget Paris – Vivaldi’s Olympic drama has more propulsive energy than any Games
This opera’s constant energy and drive was captured to the full by the small, taut forces of the Irish Baroque Orchestra
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Welsh National Opera’s near collapse is the ultimate proof of the arts councils’ hatred of opera
Thanks to devastating funding cuts from both the English and Welsh art councils, the future of this brilliant company is now at stake
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Le Nozze di Figaro, Komische Oper, Berlin, review: purists be damned – this is sensational
Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s unforgettable, dream-like adaptation won’t please everyone – but it demands to be seen
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Zarqa Al Yamama, Riyadh: a bold attempt, but Saudi Arabia’s first grand opera falls flat
Premiering in Riyadh, this international collaboration hinges on a strong Saudi narrative and is well sung, but the music lets it down
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Simon Boccanegra, Bridgewater Hall, review: the Hallé deliver a thrilling evening of Verdi
This performance of the lesser-known original version was a testament to music director Mark Elder’s magnificent 24-year period at the Halle
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Aci by the River, London Handel Festival: this voyage up the Thames is exactly what opera needs
The Festival’s innovative production – led by three world-class singers – is underpinned by an unchanging commitment to musical excellence
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Margaret Tynes, soprano who struggled to square her faith with ‘sex kitten’ opera roles – obituary
Duke Ellington heard her as Lady Macbeth and telephoned to introduce himself. ‘Yeah, and I’m the president of the United States,’ she said
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La Gioconda, Salzburg Easter Festival, review: Anna Netrebko is past her best, but Pappano thrills
This lavish staging – destined for Covent Garden – may be as good as this grand but challenging opera is ever going to get
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The 10 essential operas to see in spring 2024
From Handel on a boat to an epic finale for the LPO Ring cycle, the season’s offerings range from the intimate to the cosmic
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Duke Bluebeard’s Castle: cast illness hampers a restaging of Bartók that was perhaps doomed to fail
Boldly sung in the original Hungarian, this showed ingenuity in the face of adversity, but maybe semi-staging the work was a flawed approach
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The Arts Council’s report is right: opera doesn’t have to be this expensive
ACE’s analysis of UK opera has been heavily criticised but it’s true – as it says – that just a few companies use up the available subsidy
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The Arts Council’s new report on opera is patronising and snide
The new 115-page document on funding opera and music theatre proves the organisation has lost its way
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Death in Venice: a magnificent, startlingly original staging of Britten’s enigmatic opera
In this radical rethinking, WNO’s director Olivia Fuchs has turned Tadzio and his family into aerial acrobats who float above the scene
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Wilhelmenia Fernandez, opera singer who starred in the stylish French thriller Diva – obituary
In the 1981 cult classic, the beautiful soprano becomes the obsession of a postman, who secretly tapes her singing against her wishes
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A Star Next to the Moon: a complex new opera superbly performed by a talented young cast
The world premiere of a new work by composer Stephen McNeff gives huge confidence for the flourishing of opera’s future
