Mystery seems to lie at the core of Covent Garden’s latest Parsifal, directed by Evgeny Titov in his Royal Opera debut. Where Wagner indulges in sublime music built around bright major triads, Titov presents an almost relentlessly bloody and depressing

On 15 October 2026, the Greek National Opera brings its orchestra to the United States for the very first time. This debut concert will take place at Carnegie Hall and will feature the Manos Hadjidakis Ensemble, soloists Anita Rachvelishvili and

The Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik has long been a premier incubator for Baroque opera. Through its annual “Barockoper:Jung” initiative, the festival provides a crucial professional platform for former Cesti Competition winners and other exceptional young talent. Handel’s 1736 pastoral

In homage to director and designer Nikos S. Petropoulos, Greek National Opera did a revival of his 2001 La Traviata, first given at the Olympic Theatre. The design was Over The Top in the best possible way, with the first

Luigi Cherubini‘s Medea was a vehicle for Maria Callas – she brought back Cherubini’s long-forgotten score and made it her triumph. The French-language Médée, had received its premiere in Paris at the Théâtre Feydeau on 13 March 1797. Its opening

Vincenzo Bellini‘s final opera I Puritani is a daunting challenge, no matter which opera house attempts it. It is nearly impossible to assemble a cast of principals that is up to the task. The Royal Opera House, for the first

Bilbao, the largest city and economic capital of the Basque Country, isn’t usually on opera lovers’ circuits. But a promising cast occasioned this trip to see Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, a coproduction between ABAO Bilbao (Asociación Bilbaína de Amigos de

Georges Bizet (1838–1875) never had the success he wanted in his lifetime. He had two hits in the operas Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth, but both operas came in for criticism. The Pearl Fishers for