US Edition
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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Jenny Stafford shines as Manon Lescaut – despite ETO’s baffling staging
With a clunky English libretto and garish technicolour costumes, this outlandish touring production is saved by its subtle performances
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Cavalleria rusticana and Aleko: crimes of passions superbly staged
Opera North's decision to pair Mascagni’s melodrama with Rachmaninov's lesser-known work is a masterstroke
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Marx in London!, review: the father of Communism’s life reinvented as a sitcom – and it’s great fun
Does it add up to much? Not necessarily. But Jonathan Dove’s crisply staged opera is nothing if not enjoyable mayhem
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Pappano bids farewell to the Royal Opera with a triumphant Elektra
Nina Stemme and Karita Mattila star in Christof Loy’s thoughtful, subtle production of Strauss's tragedy at Covent Gardent
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Seven must-see operas to book tickets for in 2024
From Benjamin Britten to Bartok, our critic rounds up the best operas of the new year
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Hansel and Gretel, Royal Opera House, review: the kids might need a few breadcrumbs
An otherwise crisp, clever production of Humperdinck's classic assumes too much knowledge of Grimms' tales from its younger viewers
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2023 in Dance, Opera and Classical music: from Black Sabbath in Brum to The Matrix in Manchester
This year the wrecking ball came swinging for Britain’s orchestras and choirs. But ballet has never looked better
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ENO’s big move is good for Manchester – but it may not be good for opera
English National Opera’s new home in the north is a fine cultural hub. Yet the reality may not match the scale of its ambitions
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Why Maria Callas is my ultimate operatic heroine
100 years after the soprano’s birth, Serena Davies recalls growing up with her opera-singer mother in a house filled with Callas recordings
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The Barber of Seville: Rossini goes to Yorkshire – and it’s a hilarious operatic treat
Ian McMillan’s dialect-spiced libretto brought Figaro et al to Bradford, and some superbly versatile singing kept the comedy on track
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Why I’ve made a Yorkshire version of t’Barber of Seville
The Bard of Barnsley is bringing flat vowels to Rossini's masterpiece - and he thinks his Uncle Charlie would have been proud
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Pretty Yende: ‘Even if to the world it was a Coronation, the girl in me was just in church and about to sing’
The world-famous South African soprano muses on her glittering career – including King Charles III personally requesting her performance
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Giant vulvas and a flying hippopotamus: when the world’s greatest artists make opera
As Marina Abramović's opera arrives in London, we look at how Salvador Dalí and others imposed their will – often with disastrous results
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The Gilded Age, series 2, episode 1, review: Downton's American sibling returns with confidence
Julian Fellowes's New York-set period drama has grown more bold in its second outing, opening with the true story of duelling opera houses
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Don’t bash the board of ENO – they’ve saved it
The beleaguered company has faced online criticism in recent weeks, but the new business model could signal a brighter future
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James Jorden, founder of the witty and raunchy opera blog Parterre Box – obituary
At first, he could only distribute his periodical in the gents’ loos of the Met. Twelve years later, he was being given free press seats
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What’s going on at ENO?
Tensions between musicians and the executive have long been at the heart of the opera house’s miseries
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The heart of ENO’s excellence is its orchestra. Funds must be found to save it
The resignation of music director Martyn Brabbins highlights the fact that only with world-class musicianship can ENO speak to the nation
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Opera North, Masque of Might: Just Stop Oil meets Henry Purcell in this wobbly eco-confection
David Pountney has cunningly threaded together Purcell’s music to create a stylish ecological fable – but the result doesn’t quite cohere
