opera directors
Manon, Royal OperaWednesday, 15 January 2014
Massenet had just two lingering thoughts about Manon when he wrote his memoirs in 1910, a quarter-century after the opera's first performance. First, he enjoyed reminding himself how many times it had been performed (a staggering 763 by the... Read more... |
Patrice Chéreau, 1944-2013: a partial viewTuesday, 08 October 2013
It has to be partial, because out of the 10 opera productions from the iconoclastic French actor-director, who died yesterday of lung cancer at the age of 68, I’ve seen but two, on screen only – but a big two at that – and only three of his 11 films... Read more... |
Die Fledermaus, English National OperaTuesday, 01 October 2013
Rich, racy, randy and irreverent: such were the R words gathered up by a Canadian critic to capture the essence of Christopher Alden’s production of Johann Strauss’s cork-popping operetta when it premiered in Toronto last year. Other R words, alas,... Read more... |
Interview: Serge Dorny of Opéra de LyonSaturday, 03 August 2013
A lot has changed in the 10 years since Serge Dorny arrived at Lyon Opera. Attendance in a supposedly dying art form has risen to 96 per cent, and no charges of elitism or unfashionable nostalgia have deterred the 25 per cent of Lyon’s... Read more... |
Don Pasquale, Glyndebourne Festival OperaFriday, 19 July 2013
Her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, Mariame Clément grumbles in the Glyndebourne programme that Don Pasquale “poses no specific ‘conceptual’ challenge” to the opera director. Sighs of relief all round. Donizetti’s final comic masterpiece turns... Read more... |
The Gospel According to the Other Mary, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dudamel, Barbican HallSunday, 17 March 2013
“I do not believe in miracles,” scoffs Herodias in Oscar Wilde’s - and Richard Strauss’s - Salome. “I have seen too many.” I know how she feels. So it was a bit of a shock to find the highest-kicking of today’s composers, John Adams, and his... Read more... |
The Barber of Seville, English National OperaTuesday, 26 February 2013
There is only one rule by which one should ever judge a Barber of Seville. If your eyes (and possibly also your trouser legs) aren’t moist by the time the interval arrives, you might as well leave. The last time this Jonathan Miller production was... Read more... |
David Pountney to head Welsh National OperaFriday, 01 April 2011
After what must seem like a long exile, the opera director with one of the most distinctive track records in the business is to return as chief executive of a company which has been on fitful form recently. As, it must be said, has Pountney's recent... Read more... |
Danish opera chief to take over at the Royal Opera HouseFriday, 18 March 2011
The Royal Opera has announced that Kasper Holten, artistic director of the Royal Danish Opera, has been appointed Director of Opera at Covent Garden, to succeed Elaine Padmore at the end of this season.A native of Copenhagen, 37-year-old Mr Holten... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Director Robert LepageSaturday, 29 January 2011
Robert Lepage is not just one of the most fêted and sought-after theatre directors in the world; he is also one of the most prolific. His international breakthrough came with The Dragon Trilogy in 1985, and since then the French-Canadian’s work has... Read more... |
The Seckerson Tapes: Director Rufus NorrisThursday, 04 November 2010
In 2001 Rufus Norris cleaned up on the awards front with his stunning production of Festen, the David Eldridge adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's disturbing film which started life at the Almeida Theatre. But it was his grimly ironic staging of... Read more... |
The Seckerson Tapes: Director Des McAnuffTuesday, 14 September 2010
In the 1960s Des McAnuff played guitar and wrote songs to meet girls. Subsequently life became a little more complicated for the multi-talented writer/ director. His long-standing commitment to the Shakespeare Festival Theatre at the other Stratford... Read more... |
