Verdi’s La Traviata has long been seen as one of the greatest operas despite the plot being a bit of an operatic cliché. The dramatic potential of boy-meets-girl, they fall in love, girl dies, however, is perfectly exploited in this story originally by Alexandre Dumas. Violetta is the ‘Traviata’ of the title, usually translated as … Read more
David McVicar brings out the best in a young cast for this eleventh revival of his 2006 production of Mozart’s glorious Marriage of Figaro. As he has shown in many other productions, McVicar combines total respect for the intentions of the original composer and librettist with a knack for sensing the strengths of the individual … Read more
Since it appeared in 1790, Cosi Fan Tutte has been the most controversial of Mozart’s comic operas. For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was rarely seen in Europe’s opera houses, particularly in Britain where its sexually risqué plot was seen as conflicting with Victorian morality. Now that we are more relaxed about … Read more
After 22 glorious years as Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano is leaving the post with a final appearance, conducting the orchestra in a fine production of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier. As always, to judge from the first night, he brings an uncanny understanding to the music which he transmits magnificently to … Read more
Bizet’s Carmen has good claims to be the most popular and most often produced of all operas, which makes it difficult for a director to come up with anything both new and acceptable but Damiano Michieletto has achieved an intriguing balance between traditional ideas and new insights in the new Royal Opera House production at … Read more
A stunning performance from Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian in the title role made an outstanding impression at the opening night of Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera House. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this tale of a young Japanese girl and the callous American naval lieutenant who weds … Read more
The British composer and sound designer Sarah Angliss received her inspiration for this new opera from a visit to the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons where she saw the huge skeleton of the man known as The Irish Giant. The museum started as a private collection of the esteemed anatomist and surgeon … Read more
Richard Wagner was still in his late-20s when he achieved his first great operatic hit with The Flying Dutchman, but both the plot and the music already showed the grandeur, the ambition and the power he was to achieve in his later highly-acclaimed works. The opera is based on a legend of a ghost ship, … Read more
Bieito has always looked for ways to challenge orthodoxy and present a new vision of an opera, but a good director’s job is to add touches to an opera that adds to it or delivers its message more strikingly rather than changing it. The first noticeable innovation in this production is that it is not … Read more
MS Society dancers Carly and Ekow with choreographer Bim (Image: ROH ) It was a day of cheers and tears as a group from the MS Society performed in the Paul Hamlyn Hall at the Royal Opera House, the culmination of a 12-week dance residency with The Royal Ballet. Each had their own personal journey … Read more
