The Royal Opera House’s new production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma was one of the most anticipated performances of the season, principally due to the casting of Anna Netrebko in the title role. When the Russian diva pulled out shortly after

It’s hard to justify the arduous trip to Pesaro. The unremarkable town on Italy’s Adriatic coast has poor train connections, it’s a dull two hour car ride from Bologna, and the nearest airport is Ancona Falconara, a run-down and inefficient

Not exactly seated in the center of the world you have to be curious about opera or love it to come to Ravenna for its opera season. Located about 10 km from the Adriatic sea, this city founded at least

One year after the launch of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s Ring Cycle, Music Director Jaap van Zweden brings us Die Walküre (the Valkyrie), the second installment of Richard Wagner’s monumental opera tetralogy.

The Royal Opera House delivered a remarkably gripping new production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci by Damiano Michieletto. The Italian directorial wunderkind unified the verismo double bill, setting the operas in the same Mezzogiorno village where some characters from both

A tacky Italian beach resort in the heat of the summer holiday and a moderately quaint old town with a strong operatic tradition make an odd contrast. Yet Gioachino Rossini’s hometown, Pesaro on the Adriatic, hosts a longstanding opera festival

Every now and then the Salzburg Festival puts on a performance of such perfection, we are reminded how this festival became the leading operatic summer event in Europe. This year’s new production of Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro (Marriage of Figaro)

A highlight of this year’s Salzburg Festival was a new production of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. It was largely deemed a vehicle to show off leading German tenor Jonas Kaufmann at his vocal and artistic zenith. And indeed, he did