Archives

82 Posts
archive-post-image
Report From Pesaro – Rossini Opera Festival 2023: Great Casts Trump Directorial Largesse
This very first production of Eduardo e Cristina at the Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) completes the performed oeuvre of the great Pesarese maestro. The epicentre of Rossiniana possibly left it so late because of the challenges of this barely performed
Read more
archive-post-image
Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov at the HK Arts Festival
The 51st edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the first after several years of muted and mostly virtual performances, featured Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov among the headline artists. There is little argument that Russian-born Anna Netrebko is the
Read more
archive-post-image
Alpha Cast in Alphabet Soup
Jaume Plensa’s Macbeth at Barcelona’s Liceu
Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth at Barcelona’s prestigious Gran Teatre del Liceu was hard to ignore. Jaume Plensa is not only a globally admired sculptor, but he is also something of a Catalan hero. This new production was bound to be the
Read more
archive-post-image
Report From Pesaro – Frivolity and Femicide
Review on Rossini Opera Festival 2022 – La Gazzetta and Otello The 43rd edition of the Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) in Pesaro, Rossini’s birthplace, featured a selection of rare Rossini operas and recitals. The nearly two week-long event again drew
Read more
archive-post-image
Report From Bad Wildbad – Opera, Spas and Black Forest Cake
Bad Wildbad is one of the least probable stations on the European summer festival circuit. Small, relatively nondescript and poorly accessible, the spa town in the Black Forest once welcomed Gioachino Rossini when he was seeking cures for his many
Read more
archive-post-image
A Worthwhile Wait of 180 Years
Mercadante’s Il Proscritto Brought to Life by Opera Rara
Music lovers often wonder how a 19th century audience would experience an opera during its absolute first performance, without the benefit of extensive written plot summaries, YouTube videos and CDs to prepare for the music, or Wikipedia guides to pinpoint
Read more
archive-post-image
I Lombardi at La Fenice in Venice
For the music obsessed, no visit to la Serenissima would be complete without an evening at the opera. Venice’s legendary Teatro La Fenice opera house, reopened in 2004 after the catastrophic fire of 1996, was resplendent with its riotously colourful
Read more
archive-post-image
Producer and Evil Henchman: Rossini’s L’inganno felice
An Interview With Martin Ng
We caught up with Martin Ng the other day when he was in the middle of rehearsals for Rossini’s L’inganno felice (The Blissful Deception), which will make its appearance in Singapore in early March. He talked about the founding of
Read more