March 2009 Volume 60 No 3

Editor John Allison Deputy Editor Erica Jeal Publisher Fletcher Dhew Subscriptions Manager Megan Jackson

Editorial Board Martin Bernheimer Hugh Canning Rupert Christiansen Andrew Clark Andrew Clements Richard Fairman George Hall Michael Kennedy Fiona Maddocks Rodney Milnes (Chairman) Roger Parker Andrew Porter

Editorial Offices 36 Black Lion Lane London W6 9BE Telephone: 020 8563 8893 Fax: 020 8563 8635 e-mail: editor@opera.co.uk Website: www.opera.co.uk

Subscriptions Telephone: 020 8748 0911 e-mail: operasubs@opera.co.uk

Advertising Jane Stoggles Cabbell Publishing Ltd Tel: 020 8971 8450 Fax: 020 8971 8480

Front cover: Jessye Norman (see pp. 260-4) (photo: Carol Friedman)

259 Economy class By the Editor

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood Past Editors Harold Rosenthal and Rodney Milnes

260 Honor in our time Jessye Norman in conversation with David Shengold

265 Readers’ letters

269 Concerted efforts Michael Tanner weighs up staged opera vs concert performance

275 People 355: Véronique Gens John Allison

282 Newsdesk

285 Thirty years young ETO’s James Conway talks to Stephen Pettitt

290 Opera around the world

340 Opera in Britain

349 Opera on CD

359 Opera on DVD

364 Opera books

368 Coming events including plans for the UK houses, Los Angeles, Palermo, San Francisco, Toronto; ‘We hear that …’; Opera calendar home and abroad

383 Classified advertisements

384 If I came back as … Cleopatra Laurence Cummings

Opera, March 2009

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