Contents
FRONT OF HOUSE
˛ EDITORIAL
What lies ahead for British opera?
˝ NEWS & NOTES
Opera bears the brunt of UK funding cuts • New directions in Zagreb • Royal Opera House appoints music director • Frankfurt Opera fundraises for Iranians
10 The making of The Child in Striped˜Pyjamas
14 The death of English National Opera
REVIEWS
ˆ°-˛˛ LIVE REVIEWS
UK Royal Opera House Aida (36); UK Round up Bampton Classical Opera Fool Moon; ROH Linbury’s Last Days; Grange Park Opera Gods of the Game (38-40); USA Seattle Opera Tristan und Isolde (42) The Metropolitan Opera, New York Medea (44) EUROPE Rossini in Wildbad Ermione (46) Musik Theater an der Wien Cunning Little Vixen (48) Verdi Festival Parma La Forza del destino (50) Teatro La Fenice, Venice Peter Grimes (52) City
focus: Athens Don Giovanni;
Farnace; Lise Davidsen (54)
˛˝-°ˇ RECORDINGS 58 Film review: Fuoco Sacro – a search for the sacred fire of song
61-63 New releases on CD, Digital & AV including: Diana Damrau, My Christmas; French bel canto arias with Lisette Oropesa; New recordings of La traviata and Adriana Lecouvreur; Giordano’s Siberia on DVD; Giulio Cesare at the Theater an der Wien
64 Signor Gaetano: Donizetti arias, with tenor Javier Camarena
COVER PHOTO: CHRIS DUNLOP/DECCA°˛-˙˜ SPOTLIGHT Worldwide Opera Guide and answers to this issue’s Quiz (p71)
SVEN ARNSTEIN
‘In general, I don’t simply approach my voice as something that always has to aspire to beauty, but as a colour-palette through which each role comes to life.’ – Danielle de Niese
CONTENTS
˜° Cover feature
Soprano Danielle de Niese is a remarkable phenomenon in the opera world, excelling in a wide range of genres, from Baroque to contemporary musical theatre. She talks to Helena Matheopoulos about her latest role in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life,
currently at English National Opera, a heartwarming celebration of the spirit of Christmas
˘˝ Legendary Voices: Luisa Tetrazzini
Soprano Luisa Tetrazzini’s colourful life o˜ stage has tended to eclipse her considerable vocal
˘ˇ Boris Godunov at La Scala
Kasper Holten introduces his new production of Boris Godunov which opens the new season of La Scala, as is the tradition, on 7 December, the feast day of Sant’Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan
artistry. A new study throws the spotlight on her beautiful, passionate singing, as preserved on record
ˆ˘ Travels with my OperaGlasses
Professor Anthony Ogus travels through France on a fulfilling operatic odyssey that takes him from the Mediterranean coast to the northern plains
˛° Books Round-up
Opera from a wig-maker’s perspective; A new biography of Wagner’s diÿcult wife; and more…
˙˘ My Favourite Things
Director Richard Jones gets nostalgic for his days as a restaurant pianist
˙ˇ Quiz
What did the man mistake his wife for? Test your opera knowledge
