The Magic Flute Royal Opera House, London There are a few opera productions which never grow stale, they just get better, and so it is with director David McVicar’s version of The Magic Flute. It wa...Read More
Madama Butterfly Royal Opera House, London, ★★★★ Nobody could accuse Covent Garden of backwardness in virtue-signalling. They recently announced plans for trigger-warnings when murder, rape, a...Read More
Peter Grimes Royal Opera House, London ★★★★★ Michael Church Allan Clayton, John Tomlinson, Bryn Terfel, Jacques Imbrailo, James Gilchrist, John Graham-Hall – and all under the musical dire...Read More
I Solomon, Great Hall, Bart’s Hospital Quatuor pour la fin du temps, St Paul’s Cathedral New Dark Age, Royal Opera House, London With the whole world of classical music engaged in streaming, l...Read More
Musicians are at a precipice – but does the government care? Given a fanatical Brexiteer cabinet fixated on impossible dreams, and some stunningly inadequate ministers in charge of important a...Read More
Susanna, Linbury Theatre, London How to prepare for the coming storm? Eat well, keep fit, and enjoy the pleasures which will soon be off the menu. It can’t be long before opera houses close their d...Read More
Otello, Royal Opera House While English National Opera, under its current leadership, produces nothing but flops, the Royal Opera remains splendidly on track. Hot on the heels of David McVicar’s s...Read More
Die Zauberflöte, Royal Opera House, London While ENO produces one turkey after another, Covent Garden continues to fly the flag. It has just brought back David McVicar’s production of Die Zauberfl...Read More
The three-string shamisen lute is a brashly assertive instrument, but Japanese composers and performers are now exploring its hitherto unsuspected sonic potential. Honjoh Hidejiro, the leader in this ...Read More
Boris Godunov, Royal Opera House When the curtain rises on Boris Godunov, the gaudily-painted spinning-top which adorns it turns out to be a giant version of the toy with which a small boy in a white...Read More