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La scala di seta (Farsa Comica)
Teatro “Cesare Caporali” sits in Panicale Umbria. Panicale is a jewel of a historic town as so many are in Umbria. You’ve never heard of it just as I’ve never heard of it either until 4 years ago, in spite
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Les Huguenots at Bastille Opera
Paris does glamour better than anyone. But clearly not at the opera. The Opéra National de Paris at the Bastille still looks like a second-tier suburban cinemaplex and the audience looks accordingly. Opening night has no dress code, no glamour,
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A Salome to flummox the Salzburg glitterati
This summer’s Salzburg Festival chatter was dominated by the enthusiastic reviews of the new production of Richard Strauss’ Salome and its new star soprano Asmik Grigorian.
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A more than luxuriously cast Lucia di Lammermoor: Teatro Real Madrid
Madrid pulled together an absolute dream production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with a cast few houses could even think about. This production by David Alden, first commissioned for the English National Opera in 2008, sets the scene in
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La Gioconda in Berlin: Party like it’s 1974
Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, the opera company based in the Western section of the formerly divided city, put on grand opera at its most opulent with Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. Rarely performed these days due to the work’s staggering length, large
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The Final Piece of the Jigsaw – Sir Mark Elder on Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida
On 18 and 21 July, Sir Mark Elder conducts concert performances of the world premiere of an opera that was previously thought to have been consigned to oblivion: Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida.
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Angela Gheorghiu and Teodor Ilincăi – Las Voces del Real at Teatro Real Madrid
In the late summer of their careers, divas like to stake out some territory that ensures their legacy. Maria Callas championed bel canto rarities, Cecilia Bartoli reinvigorated baroque treasures, Joyce di Donato promotes contemporary American Jake Heggie. A cursory overview
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Swanning around: Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House
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
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