Productions of Humperdinck’s fairy tale opera usually draw an extensive, opulent contrast between the impoverished austerity of the home in which Hansel and Gretel live with their parents, and the Witch’s gingerbread house offering the illusion of an endless feast of enticing sweetmeats on which […]
An atmosphere of celebration pervaded the Royal Opera House for the opening night of ‘Marianela – Timeless’, an evening curated by The Royal Ballet’s reigning ballerina, Marianela Nuñez, who, at the age of 44 and […]
In bringing the action of Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera (1859) forwards to the Hollywood’s Golden Era on either side of the Second World War, Rodula Gaitanou’s production (revived from 2019) suggests a conspiratorial world […]
Pat Metheny’s return to the Barbican Centre, the first of two performances, spoke about an artist whose work has shaped modern jazz and jazz guitar artistry for half a century. At 71, he is still […]
The Magic Flute means many things to many people, ranging between its two narrative poles of a serious story or Bildungsroman about enlightenment from the forces of darkness and evil (represented by Tamino and Pamina) and […]
Verdi’s Macbeth masterfully compresses Shakespeare’s play into a compelling four Act opera that fulfils all the expectations of a mid-19th century musical melodrama while also adding the theme of a people liberated from oppression, addressing […]
With Barrie Kosky’s ongoing Covent Garden production dominating metropolitan perceptions of Wagner’s tetralogy and Longborough Festival Opera having set a high bar for country house Wagner, it was brave of Grange Park Opera to embark […]
Three cheers for Sir Peter Wright and three cheers more for Birmingham Royal Ballet who drew balletic attention away from the capital for once to focus it firmly on England’s second city. Wright is now […]
The Royal Ballet’s standing as a serious classical dance company takes another hard knock with its latest programme, a double bill by the resolutely contemporary choreographic duo of Sol León and Paul Lightfoot which contributes […]
A curious programme with which to bring down the curtain on a successful season. Vasily Petrenko began with one of his well-intended homilies, promising us an evening of extremes but trailing off into unintelligibility when […]
