sun 05/10/2025

Opera Galleries

'I'm the photographer. Any nudity? Any fighting?'

Bill Knight

We are sitting in the lobby of the National Theatre in the early afternoon waiting for the photocall for Dara to begin. Six or seven photographers, one woman, all dressed in jeans and dark jackets with large camera bags, some on wheels. There is not much conversation. As a relative newcomer I don't normally speak, but on this occasion I venture a remark.

“I have seen this play.”

After a pause one of the company says, “You're keen.”

Read more...

Gallery: Stars of the Glyndebourne Chorus

theartsdesk

Its constituent parts come in all sizes, tall and small, compact or full-bodied, and span the ages. But put them all together and an operatic chorus is a vast but single organism that sings – and moves – as one. The current Glyndebourne Chorus consists of 15 sopranos, 12 mezzos, 13 tenors and 18 basses. The longest-serving member has been singing with the Chorus for 18 years, but there is an annual intake from music colleges which will include several aspiring soloists.

Read more...

Performers: A Season in Photographs

theartsdesk

A stage performance in any art form communicates through sound and motion. A photographer's task is to capture the dramatic experience in the silence and stillness of the 2D image. In the worlds of ballet and opera, none does it with more commitment to truth and drama than the great Laurie Lewis. To mark the end of the 2012-13 season, we present 25 images selected by the photographer exclusively for theartsdesk.

Read more...

Production Gallery: The Royal Opera's La Fille Du Régiment

theartsdesk

Click on a picture for full view and to enter slideshow

  1. Dessay (Marie) and Corbelli (Sulpice)
  2. Dessay (Marie) and Florez (Tonio)
  3. Florez (Tonio)
  4. Dessay (Marie) and the Vingt-et-unième
  5. Dessay (Marie) and the Vingt-et-unième
  6. Dessay (Marie), Dawn French (Duchesse de Crackentorp)
  7. Dessay (Marie) and Florez (Tonio)

[bg|/OPERA/ismene_brown/fille_du_regiment]

Read more...

Production Gallery: Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser at the Royal Opera House

Jasper Rees Adultery alla Rossini: Il turco in Italia stars Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Selim and Aleksandra Kurzak as Fiorilla

As co-directors of opera, Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser's fidelity to each other's artistic vision is one thing. Their devotion to Rossini is also relatively unusual. Their loyalty to and faith in their designers is almost as deep. In this ravishing set of photographs, memorialising five of their productions at the Royal Opera House, the set designs are all by Christian Fenouillat, costume designs are by Agostino Cavalca and lighting is by Christophe Forey. Click on the images to view them...

Read more...

Design gallery: The Tsarina's Slippers, Royal Opera

Ismene Brown

A new production by The Royal Opera of Tchaikovsky's The Tsarina's Slippers opens on Friday at Covent Garden, directed by Francesca Zambello, designed by Mikhail Mokrov and Tatiana Noginova, and with an all-Russian cast of principals conducted by Alexandr Polianichko.

Read more...

Production gallery: Duke Bluebeard's Castle, ENO

theartsdesk

English National Opera's new production of Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle is photographed here by Johan Persson. Directed by Daniel Kramer, designed by Giles Cadle and lit by Peter Mumford, it updates Charles Perrault's 1697 fairytale to a horrific modern reality. Clive Bayley and Michaela Martens sing Duke Bluebeard and Judith. See Ismene Brown's review.

Read more...

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, RIAM, Dublin review...

One miracle of musical performance is that a work you’ve loved for years can be revealed as never before in an outstanding interpretation. That...

Music Reissues Weekly: The Earlies - These Were The Earlies

The reappearance of These Were The Earlies for its 21st-anniversary is a surprise. Although The Earlies' debut LP received a maximum-...

France, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - the sound of other worlds

Even in the 21st century, it may not take that long for an outlandish literary experiment to jump genres and become an established musical classic...

Like Water for Chocolate, Royal Ballet review - splendid dan...

Christopher Wheeldon has mined a new seam of narrative pieces for the...

Rohtko, Barbican review - postmodern meditation on fake and...

It’s truly thrilling to see the Barbican embracing big concept long-form theatre again, seeking out productions that are as conceptually...

Lee, Park Theatre review - Lee Krasner looks back on her lif...

Like fellow New Yorker, Lee Miller, Lee Krasner changed her given name, the better to be accepted into what she called "The Boys...

Ariodante, Opéra Garnier, Paris review - a blast of Baroque...

The revival of Robert Carsen’s production of Handel’s Ariodante at the...