Stab in the dark: Edward Lambert’s The Cloak and Dagger Affair, Tête à Tête
Taking as its inspiration Lorca’s 1928 play Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, Edward Lambert’s The Cloak and Dagger Affair is a curious portrait of a very…
Breaking app with the boyfriend: Vicky and Albert, Tête à Tête
“And in a world where everyone else is in possession of at least once significant other, I couldn’t be more alone.” Elfyn Jones’ timely little one-woman opera Vicky and Albert…
Revolution going nowhere: The Prometheus Revolution at Grimeborn
Prometheus stole fire from the gods in order to ensure human progress, and met with a grisly eternal punishment as a reward: Zeus’ eagle devouring his liver daily. Keith Burstein’s…
Empowered comic victory: Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate, Grimeborn
The celebrations of the centenary of Women’s Suffrage in Britain have reached Dalston’s cultural heartland as Spectra Ensemble present a little-known opera by Suffragette composer Ethel Smyth, The Boatswain’s Mate, at Grimeborn.…
Kimonos and karma: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Iford
Madame Butterfly enjoys extraordinary popularity today: even people who have never been to an opera in their lives could probably recognise its title. But why? Despite its surface familiarity, it’s…
Une princesse inconnue: Isouard’s Cendrillon, Bampton Classical Opera
The little-known Cendrillon of Franco-Maltese composer Nicolò Isouard is the opera on which Rossini based his blockbuster hit La Cenerentola, which swiftly pitched Isouard’s Cendrillon into obscurity. On the opening…
Everybody loves David: Handel’s Saul at Glyndebourne
Barrie Kosky’s vividly abstract production of Saul for Glyndebourne embraces every emotional detail of this dramatic oratorio, from its exhilarating choruses to its raw, intimate family scenes. Kosky adds voices beyond…
A game of two halves: Ariadne auf Naxos at Longborough
Should divine visions of philosophical beauty be cut short by practical things like food or fireworks? Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera of two worlds in collision, and Anthony…
Shivers up and down the spine: David Sawer’s The Skating Rink at Garsington
In a small seaside town in Spain, on a grubby campsite near the beach, lust and murder – opera’s two key ingredients – are fomenting under the sweltering sun, pulling…
Queen’s dating dilemma: Handel’s Partenope at Iford
Partenope is a perfect comic storm of seduction, jealousy, fidelity and infidelity, gender-bending and downright skulduggery, anchored in the sharp human tension of true love. Many of these tropes are familiar…