The Marriage of Figaro Owen Davies 05/04/2018 The English National Opera’s revival of The Marriage of Figaro is a welcome success after recent troubles. Fiona Shaw, who was the original director o...
La Traviata Owen Davies 25/03/2018 Every opera company needs a top quality production of Traviata that it can roll out to bring in the crowds and fill the coffers. Verdi’s tuneful and t...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mel Cooper 10/03/2018 I am something of a fan of Benjamin Britten’s opera of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I like the music, the initial eerie glissandos, some of the brillian...
Iolanthe Richard Voyce 15/02/2018 Forget Hamilton. There’s a new ‘hot ticket’ in town, and it is, of all things, Iolanthe at the ENO! Appearing as fresh, glittering, and risqué as a...
Satyagraha Tim Hochstrasser 06/02/2018 This is the third revival of a landmark 2007 production, the first in the UK of this popular opera. It forms the centrepiece of Glass’ Portraits trilo...
Rodelinda Mel Cooper 28/10/2017 Before I even get around to talking about this very intelligent and moving production of Handel’s masterful opera Rodelinda, I have to state the this ...
The Barber of Seville Mel Cooper 09/10/2017 Jonathan Miller’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is a perfect example of a concept that weathers well and the ability to look at a clas...
Aida Owen Davies 06/10/2017 Aida is grand opera in every way – big voices, huge choruses, and lots of extras. And this ENO production, directed by Phelim McDermott, certainly goe...
Rigoletto Natalia Kolosova 14/02/2017 The new production of “Rigoletto” at the ENO is the thirteenth revival of the legendary performance, first staged by Jonathan Miller way back in 1982....
The Pirates of Penzance Tim Hochstrasser 14/02/2017 By common consent this work is the most perfectly finished of the Savoy Operas. It can simply be read as a rambunctious, witty, paradoxical comedy wit...