FRONT OF HOUSE
ˆ EDITORIAL
Handing over the Editor’s baton
ˇ HAVE YOUR SAY
The view from Twitter
˘-˝ NEWS & NOTES
Opera stars urge BBC executives to save the BBC Singers, Apple Music launches its new classical app, Warner Classics celebrates 100 years of Maria Callas, and we receive a Letter from Venice
REVIEWS
˜-˜ LIVE REVIEWS
UK Royal Opera House Rusalka (34); English Touring Opera Il viaggio a Reims/ Lucrezia Borgia (36)Opera North Ariadne auf Naxos (38)
EUROPE Teatro Real Madrid Arabella (40)
USA Florida Grand Opera, Miami Gianni Schicchi (42)
FESTIVALS London Handel Festival In the Realms of Sorrow (45); Janá˜ek Festival, Brno From the House of the Dead/ Ká˜a Kabanová (46)
ˆ˝-ˆ RECORDINGS
New releases on CD, Digital & AV including: Amore dolore– the young Italian countertenor follows his debut album with this love-themed disc; albums from Royal Swedish Opera and Oper Graz as well as films from Théâtre des Champs-Elysée and Theater an der Wien Opera Now Choice: Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz on film from Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
ˆˆ-ˇ SPOTLIGHT
Worldwide Opera Guide and answers to this issue’s Quiz (p63)
COVER PHOTO: FOTOENNEVI / FONDAZIONE ARENA DI VERONA
CONTENTS
˝˜ Cover feature
The renowned Verona Arena Opera Festival celebrates its centenary this year with a new production of its first performed opera, Verdi’s Aida.
˙˝ Leading with honesty
Conductor Dan Ettinger comes clean about the trials and tribulations of conducting and the di°erences between opera and symphony orchestras.
˙ˆ Olympia Theatre Athens
Meeting the French Artistic Director of Athens’s second opera house as he transforms the space
with Greek opera, new music and exciting collaborations.
˜ˇ Janáek Festival – reporting from Brno
Jakub Hr˛ša conducts two of the Czech composer’s masterpieces
– his final opera From the House of the Dead and Ká˜a Kabanová based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s play The Storm.
ˇ˜ My Favourite Things
Jakub Józef Orli˝ski, renowned Polish countertenor, draws on the influences of Versailles, the changing seasons and streetˆculture.
VIKTOR SANTIAGO
˜° Coming into your˛own
Sonya Yoncheva speaks to us about her new album, The Courtesan, and encouraging authentic self-expression
ˇˇ Quiz
How well do you know Wagner’s Götterdämmerung? Test your opera knowledge in our monthly quiz
