Opera Features
Christa Ludwig, 1928-2021: a selective tributeFriday, 07 May 2021![]()
I only saw Christa Ludwig twice live in concert, but those appearances epitomise her incredible dramatic and vocal rage as well as her peerless artistry in everything she did. The first event was Schubert’s Winterreise with pianist Charles Spencer at the Southbank Centre, at a time when it was less common for women to take on the role of the heavy-hearted wayfarer: the intensity still resonates. Read more...
|
First Person: Anna Lucia Richter on Monteverdi and a transition from soprano to mezzoSaturday, 13 March 2021![]()
It’s actually quite a strange feeling to know that my CD Il delirio della passione is now out. I recorded this amazing, all-embracing Monteverdi project with Luca Pianca and Ensemble Claudiana over a year ago, in January 2020. That was another world, another time. Read more... |
Classical musicians on life after Brexit - 4: singers speak outThursday, 11 February 2021![]()
Forget the pandemic, it's Brexit which could ring the death knell for artists who are currently hoarse from begging to be taken seriously as a respected export. Read more... |
First Person(s): soprano Susan Bullock and baritone William Dazeley on filming Britten’s Owen WingraveFriday, 11 December 2020![]()
Two of the singers in an ambitious project to film Britten’s opera based on a Henry James story – part timeless tale of repressive tradition which chimed with the composer's pacifist beliefs, part ghost story – which was originally “made for television” and premiered on the BBC, give their impressions close to the time of... Read more... |
‘Our whole industry is supported by vulnerable freelance creators': Chen Reiss on the artist in a time of CoronavirusMonday, 23 November 2020![]()
I am not the first to say this, and I won’t be the last, but what a strange year 2020 has become! Read more... |
First Person: tenor Nicky Spence on working with Blackheath locals on screen StravinskyFriday, 09 October 2020![]()
As patron for a community organisation, I see clearly how opera is the biggest collaboration going. Between stage, orchestra pit, school liaisons, chorus leaders, make-up bays and the magicians of the technical team, every cog is of equal importance. Read more... |
Eavesdropping on Rattle, the LSO and Bartók’s BluebeardWednesday, 16 September 2020![]()
One source of advance information told us to expect a reduced version of Bartók’s one-act Bluebeard’s Castle, among the 20th century’s most original and profound operatic masterpieces. Read more... |
First Person: Antonia Bain on directing a short kitchen opera for filmWednesday, 29 July 2020![]()
The Narcissistic Fish is a brand new opera specifically created to be filmed. Read more... |
Classical music/Opera direct to home 14 - sound and vision at the highest levelFriday, 05 June 2020![]()
As more musicians emerge from lockdown to conduct, play and sing in audience-less venues - ongoing kudos to the Wigmore Hall for its weekday lunchtime concerts, a fixure for so many viewers and listeners - here are some more off-piste treasures, a past glory from the... Read more... |
Avoiding meltdown from lockdown: Michael Chance on The Grange Festival's strategy for survivalWednesday, 20 May 2020![]()
Where to start? We at The Grange Festival began in mid-March (the 15th) with a letter to our company, all those few hundred who come and work for us during the festival months and who are all, almost without exception, employed on a freelance basis, warning of a likely cancellation but urging a commitment to stage the summer festival over June and July (with preparations stating in mid-April) if at all possible. Read more... |
Pages
latest in today

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...

“I can’t move my arms or legs, but apart from that I’m good to go.” Moth (Jason Isaacs) has to be pulled out of the tent in his sleeping bag by...

This charmingly eloquent semi-autobiographical show – which first played at the Bush Theatre in 2022 – tells the story of a girl whose...

Nick Mulvey’s first two albums, First Mind in 2014 and Wake Up Now in 2017, are among the loveliest singer-songwriter fare...

MOR. Twee. Unashamedly crowdpleasing. Are such descriptors indicative of a tedious night in the stalls? For your reviewer, who has...

For the first half-hour of this show – on the day before the release of his new album Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles – Alan...

Michael Gira (born 19/2/54) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. He founded Swans, a band in which he sings and plays...

A couple of months ago, I wrote here that Lady Gaga was the godmother of the new generation of ostentatiously “theatre kid” pop stars – but...

As this two-part documentary vividly illustrates, it...