Rodelinda Tim Hochstrasser 23/06/2025Handel’s Rodelinda (1725) was written at the apogee of his operatic career, when Italian opera seria and Handel’s own contributions...
Die Fledermaus Tim Hochstrasser 23/06/2025I always think of this operetta as a show for the end of the year. The action is set on...
Mazeppa Tim Hochstrasser 19/06/2025It is truly surprising that Mazeppa (1884) is not better known. It is work of Tchaikovsky’s maturity and full of...
Anna Karenina Tim Hochstrasser 19/06/2025Adapting a novel of the size and range of Anna Karenina is an impossible task. You have to omit scenes...
Saul Tim Hochstrasser 11/06/2025As a veteran browser of second-hand bookshops, I grew used to seeing piles of faded old Novello vocal scores of...
Fiddler on the Roof Tim Hochstrasser 06/06/2025The greatest musicals, like the greatest operas, contain worlds within them that can be tapped and taken in many different...
The Queen of Spades Tim Hochstrasser 03/06/2025The Queen of Spades/Pique Dame (1890) is a classic case of where literature and opera part company with independently successful results....
Outpatient Tim Hochstrasser 25/05/2025This play had a successful first run in Edinburgh and has made several appearances since. It now comes to London...
Parsifal Tim Hochstrasser 21/05/2025This production is a first in a number of ways. It is the first time Wagner’s final opera has received...
House of Games Tim Hochstrasser 13/05/2025With Dealer’s Choice playing at the Donmar, and this production opening at Hampstead, the risks and temptations of gambling are...