The Flying Dutchman, WNO
20th April 2026
Decline of WNO reflected by meagre new season
15th April 2026
Jonathan Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton’s Mansfield Park has been presented in a plethora of performance spaces since first staged in 2011. However, it is difficult to image a more idyllic and ideal venue than the elegant ballroom of Waterperry House which becomes part of the holistic experience of this charming take on the Jane…
Mid Wales Opera are inviting audiences to join them in a Fairy Tale world of magic and myth with their new season launched at Gregynog Hall on Sunday. Launching their Fairy Tales season at the annual Friends of MWO Gala, Executive Director Lydia Bassett said, “Lots of people are struggling at the moment, and there’s…
Natalya Romaniw’s performance in Garsington Opera’s first production of Rusalka was delayed by Covid for two years. Then mid-run the Swansea-born soprano tested positive and Elin Pritchard jumped in and by all accounts gave the audience a much-enjoyed performance. By the start of July, Covid-free, the singer returned to the stage, and it was this…
Never shy from letting his imagination run riot on the opera stage, David Pountney and his design team have created a zany and witty production with plenty of contemporary references. It is a pity the Dominic Raab and Angela Rayner snob opera spat (wink and all) had not happened while the show was being put…
The dark side dominates in David Alden’s sombre Otello for Grange Park Opera. While the tragedy is Otello and Desdemona, the focus of this production is not only how Iago brings about the fatal suspicion, but sadistically enjoys watching the pain he brings about. Yes, with his seductive and glowing baritone Simon Keenlyside excelled as…
June is barely over, and already this is proving to be a very interesting Summer for new operas. This is especially exciting given the existing rhetoric around the idea that opera is an old and dusty artform, incapable of representing the contemporary world, and so it is a special delight to see an increasingly broad…
Loughborough Festival has scored a glorious success with this exquisite and moving production from Carmen Jakobi of the until recently long-neglected Die Tote Stadt. With central performances of extraordinary power and beauty, this telling of Korngold’s 1920 opera relies on compelling acting and singing from Peter Auty as Paul, who is locked in a world…
Handel’s Tamerlano gets a contemporary setting in The Grange Festival’s take on the 15th century story of the defeated Ottoman ruler Bajazet who chooses death over submission to the great Mongol conqueror.It takes rather a long time to get there and when it does is rather sudden, which is all the more surprising when the…
Directed and choreographed by Maxine Braham, this production of Verdi’s Macbeth opened with one of the fantastical spirits poking her head through the curtains and giving the audience a “once-over”, which set the approach to this dark tale.The designs by Madeleine Boyd, lit by Matt Haskins, sets the Scottish Play in the world of books,…
Northern Ireland Opera has announced the main cast for the company’s new adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, directed by Artistic Director Cameron Menzies, opening at Belfast’s Grand Opera House this September. Tenor Noah Stewart and Ukrainian baritone Yuriy Yurchuk return to the company, having starred in the site-specific production of La Bohéme, as Alfredo…
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