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

Schubert works for piano duet and piano soloMaria João Pires & Ricardo CastroDeutsch Grammophon 2004 I was given this album by a friend for my 40th birthday in autumn 2006. I thought turning 40 would be easy: I told myself

P: “May I get a ticket for Emilia-Romagna?” CASHIER: “Emilia-Romagna? Which city?” P: “The city of Emilia-Romagna.” CASHIER: “Signore, Emilia-Romagna is not a city! It’s a region!!” P: “Wow! Really?” Briefly, I refocused. CASHIER: “Milano? Bologna? Reggio Emilia? P: “Ah!

Hailed as one of the best living pianists in the world, Grigory Sokolov offered a magically sublime and absorbing concert experience to the 1,700 audience in Helsinki Music Centre (Musiikkitalo) on 14 June 2018, with a programme of Haydn and

When the mighty Met does something well, it truly excels. The new production by Sir David McVicar was near perfection. Replacing the unmissed Luc Bondy production, McVicar delivered what seemed like a fresher version of a Zeffirelli view of the

Quite possibly the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Italy’s leading opera house in the early 19th century, has found its groove again. In spite of a middle-of-the-road production of Gioachino Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt), the legendary San

Geneva is an unusual place. Set on a stunning lake at the Swiss-French border and surrounded by hulking dark mountains, its city center is dominated by banks and jewellers. Hotels and restaurants are notoriously overpriced, as is pretty much everything

Vancouver Opera is the distinguished and well-liked company founded in 1958 by a group of visionary community leaders. They believed in the value of the performing arts in the life of a great city in Canada. Each year, it has