Acis and Galatea review – a hectic take on Handel’s perfectly formed confection
The week in classical: Il segreto di Susanna/Pagliacci; Spring Snow; Giorgi Gigashvili – review
Il Segreto di Susanna/Pagliacci review – a double whammy of sexual jealousy
Edgar review – Puccini was right, his biggest flop is a dud
June 2024
The week in classical: Andrea Chénier; The Barber of Seville review – brio and ballistic B-flats
Antonio Pappano bows out with a blazing performance of Giordano’s red-blooded opera, while a fine cast brings out the vitality of Rossini’s classic in spite of the weather
The Barber of Seville review – Rossini’s opera gets a British Victoriana makeover
Cecilia Stinton injects a whiff of EM Forster’s A Room With a View to the comic masterpiece’s well-worn plot
The week in classical: Platée; Tosca review – a reality TV winner and shades of Callas
Breathless action and Rameau’s fizzing score ignite in Louisa Muller’s ingenious take on French baroque, while Stephen Barlow’s 60s-set Puccini sparkles in a long-overdue revival
November 2023
Keel Watson obituary
Versatile opera singer who could move effortlessly between Wagner and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
August 2023
Ruddigore review – straight staging maroons G&S’s silly satire in the Victorian age
It’s a stretch to make this slight 19th-century satire speak to a modern audience, and tremendous singing is not enough to make it do so here
July 2023
The week in classical: Itch; Semele; Prom 16: Hallé/Elder – review
La Bohème review – fine performances but Puccini is swamped by busy staging
May 2023
Rigoletto review – Verdi’s jester locks horns with the Bullingdon Club
In an engaging but problematic staging, the Duke’s court is relocated to interwar Oxford, with Alison Langer’s beautifully sung Gilda a standout
August 2022
Sir John in Love review – young singers achieve excellence against the odds
The week in classical: Tredegar Band at the Proms; HMS Pinafore; Poulenc double bill – review
July 2022
Little Women review – classic tale struggles for momentum on opera stage
Margot la Rouge/Le Villi review – Puccini and Delius rarities create double bill with daddy issues
Everyone’s sisters: whether book, film or opera, Little Women still speaks to us all
Serse review – new ensemble bring circus, and scissors, to Handel’s Persian opera
June 2022
The week in classical: Parsifal; Eugene Onegin; Scriabin: Poems of Ecstasy and Fire
Carmen review – devil-woman clichés dispensed with as heroine radiates joy not lust
