There’s a good reason why Gioachino Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero is rarely performed. It is long, dramatically weak, and the music can be repetitive – some of the most interesting parts are actually borrowed from the composer’s La Donna del

Nicholas Smith went to China over 30 years ago, his Cambridge music degree fresh in his hand, initially as a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteer with a two-year contract in China to teach English. Teaching English led to learning Chinese

Greek National Opera ended its season with Tosca, given outdoors at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus amphitheatre, located under the Acropolis wall. The stage is unusual in that it’s wide but not very deep, there are no wings, and the

The history of Kurt Weill’s 1930 masterpiece, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) at the Greek National Opera is an uneasy tale of power and achievement. The first production in 1977 was

The Frenchman Stéphane Lissner, current Sovrintendente and Artistic Director of the storied Teatro San Carlo in Naples, can be credited with upgrading the program and quality of what was once the leading opera house in Italy. Most importantly, he has

Named Artist of the Year at the 2023 International Classical Music Awards and Best Female Singer of the Year at the 2024 Oper! Awards, Ermonela Jaho is internationally recognised as one of the greatest operatic artists of our day. By

We recently saw the broadcast on MEZZO of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées’ production of Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias. It’s not a combination one might have imagined, but director Olivier Py has turned the tables on

To attend a concert in mid November in Shanghai was like flying from Ben Gurion Airport. Tickets were required to be presented to enter the premises of the Shanghai Symphony Hall, which is unnecessary at normal times. Bags were requested