May 2010 Volume 61 No 5 Editor John Allison Deputy Editor Erica Jeal (on leave) Assistant Editor Kate Molleson Publisher Fletcher Dhew Subscription 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

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Front cover: Achim Freyer’s costume sketches for Loge in his LA Ring cycle (see pp. 525-30)

515 Question time

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal and Rodney Milnes

By the Editor 516 Bayreuth’s home-spun Hausherr

Andrew Clark 522 Readers’ letters 525 People 379: Achim Freyer

David Mermelstein 533 Dear Heather … 534 Other boroughs

As Glyndebourne stages its first ‘Billy Budd’, Paul Kildea examines Britten’s early links there 540 Newsdesk 545 The most famous Belgian

José van Dam talks to Yehuda Shapiro 554 Philip Langridge, 1939-2010

Tim Albery, Felicity Palmer and Rodney Milnes 559 Obituary 560 Opera ar ound the world 589 Opera in Britain 614 Opera on CD 625 Opera on DVD 628 O pera books 630 Coming events including plans for the UK houses (with 2010-11 season plans for Covent Garden), New Yo rk (Met), Paris (Opéra National), San Diego; ‘We hear that …’; Opera calendar home and abroad 647 Classified advertisements 648 Wish I’d been there …

Per Boye Hansen

Opera, May 2010

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