April 2018 Volume 69 No 4 Editor John Allison Deputy Editors Erica Jeal Henrietta Bredin Commercial Director Megan Jackson Editorial Board Martin Bernheimer Hugh Canning Rupert Christiansen Andrew Clark Andrew Clements Richard Fairman George Hall Fiona Maddocks Roger Parker Editorial Offices 36 Black Lion Lane London W6 9BE Telephone: 020 8563 8893 editor@opera.co.uk www.opera.co.uk operamagazine @operamagazine @opera_magazine Subscriptions Esco, T rinity House, Sculpins Lane, Wethersfield, Braintree CM7 4AY Telephone: 01371 851804 Fax: 01371 851808 opera@escosubs.co.uk Digital edition Exact Editions support@exacteditions.com www.exacteditions.com/opera Advertising Jane Stoggles Cabbells Ltd T elephone: 020 3603 7940 jane@cabbell.co.uk Front cover The Royal Opera House Muscat (see p. 373) (photo: Khalid AlBusaidi/ ROHM)

Opera, April 2018

373 The world on our doorstep

By the Editor 374 Global address

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal and Rodney Milnes

Nicholas Payne intr oduces this month’s first World Opera Forum 377 People 462: Stéphane Degout

Hugh Canning 382 Reader’s letters 386 Vivat regina!

Susan Graham discusses Marc Blitzstein with John Allison 393 Newsdesk 396 Lessons in opera writing George Benjamin talks to Jo nathan Cross about his latest opera 401 The natural voice

Will Crutchfield tells Geor ge Loomis about his new festival 407 Festivals spotlight 410 Festivals directory 416 Obituary 417 Opera around the world 462 Opera in Britain 477 Opera on CD 489 Opera on DVD and Blu-ray 493 Opera books 495 Coming events including plans for the UK houses, New Y ork, Paris; ‘We hear that …’; Opera calendar home and abroad 511 Classified advertisements 512 My opera city …

John Allison

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