Have you ever wondered how opera stars are made? One tends to think of a simplistic scenario, one in which opera stars are born with a god-given voice, which, eventually, projects them to fame. But life is not a TV competition. For most young artists, there is a process, and it can be lengthy, lonely…
Tag: Puccini
ENO staging of ‘Suor Angelica’ recalls a dark time in Ireland’s female history
Suor Angelica is a rarely performed, one-act opera by Puccini. When played at all, it is often sandwiched together between two other short operas, Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi which probably explains why the work has been overlooked (Gianni Schicchi has tended to be favoured over the other two). Director of ENO, Annalise Miskimmon, was…
‘Edgar’ – Puccini’s early unloved opera performed at Opera Holland Park
2024 is the centenary of Puccini’s death. In order to honour the great man, James Clutton, Director of Opera at OHP, opted to put on Tosca this season and also Edgar, a little-known early work of Puccini’s. Edgar premiered at La Scala in 1899 and received a lacklustre reception. Believing he could improve on the opera,…
Tosca and her Toy Boy tenor impress at OHP
Opera Holland Park has opened the season with Puccini’s operatic blockbuster Tosca. At OHP the stage was transformed into a back alley in Rome. It was 1968, mid-election, and there was trouble on the streets. In the opening scene, the police laid into demonstrators, political prisoners hid out in the church, while police chief, Scarpia, issued…
La Bohème Italian Style at Opera Holland Park
Giacomo Puccini’s Bohème was Opera Holland Park’s popular offering this week. Natasha Metherell, Director of this production, forewent the traditional Parisian setting and opted for an Italian film set of the 1950s. This was a nod to Puccini’s homeland and a gamble which didn’t quite pay off. The stage filled with megaphones, spotlights, film cameras and…
Three dolours trilogy: Puccini, ‘Il trittico’, Scottish Opera
‘Il trittico’ – or, ‘The Triptych’ – is made up of three one-act operas, each roughly an hour long, that on the surface appear totally distinct. So much so, in fact, that companies often break the work up into something more manageable: presenting two parts as a double-bill, for example, or pairing one of the…
An excellent cast powers ENO’s Tosca
English National Opera’s new season opened with Tosca which is always guaranteed to draw a crowd. Puccini’s opera has much to commend it, notably a lush and inventive musical score, unforgettable arias, and moments of sometimes shocking drama. There were problems on opening night at the Coliseum. When Annilese Miskimmons, ENO’s Artistic Director, announced that…
In ENO’s Bohème Conductor Ben Glassberg Breathes New Life into Puccini’s Score.
It has been a few years since I last saw La Bohème performed at ENO. In 2019, soprano Natalya Romaniw, sang a magnificent Mimi in that mournful timbre of hers, beautifully conveying the soul of Puccini’s ill-fated seamstress. For the 2022 season, soprano, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace has taken on the iconic role. Her bright-sounding soprano couldn’t be more…
Rock opera: ENO’s ‘Tosca’ at South Facing Festival
Once there was a time when I would have been fully on top of such exciting news: a rock festival just down the road at Crystal Palace Bowl. Only a few stops on the train, or a mere jaunt on the bus, without any need to negotiate the seething metropolis. In fact, the news reached…
Tenor Dmytro Popov hitting high notes of his career
The Ukranian opera tenor Dmytro Popov might not be someone you will have heard of. Now entering his forth decade and therefore relatively young in opera years, he has spent much of his time outside the UK, singing lead roles in the world’s most prestigious opera houses. His stupendous vocal abilities were noticed very early…
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