Gregory Kunde shines in Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello at the Royal Opera House, a revival of the 2017 production (originally reviewed for Interlude). From the victorious opening exclamation “Esulatate!” (Rejoice!) that rings all the way up to the rafters, to the

French director Benoît Jacquot’s production (Revival Director Andrew Sinclair) dates back to 2004, and has had at least two revivals at the Royal Opera House. It remains as insipid and drab as at its first showing and it is hard

The Grange Festival has dramatically risen from operatic ashes after the previous management team marched off in 2016 with the chairs, lighting, database and many of the all-important sponsors. The backers of the glorious but dilapidated venue in Hampshire quickly

Giuseppe Verdi’s La Forza del Destino at the Royal Opera House was all about star appeal. With the irresistible double bill of Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, the early performances were all hopelessly sold out, with tickets reportedly trading on

Humphrey Burton made his first connection with Leonard Bernstein when Bernstein came over to London for the premiere of Candide. It had opened to disappointing reviews in New York three years earlier and the only part of the work that

The new Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House, a co-production with Opera Vlaanderen, is musically a very fine production. What it lacks, however, is a unifying concept. Neither direction (David Alden), stage set (Paul Steinberg) nor costumes (Gideon Davey) came

Three years ago, bel canto scholar and tenor Kenneth Querns Langley started working on the idea of a Bel Canto Festival and it came to fruition last year. This year will be the second Festival, built around the participation of

French pianist Anne Queffélec graduated from the Paris Conservatoire and then extended her studies in Vienna under teachers Paul Badura-Skoda, Jörg Demus and Alfred Brendel. She went on to win the Munich and Leeds piano competitions. You heard her in