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FRONT OF HOUSE | Contents
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‘In Italy you have to find a way to survive without compromising too much of yourself.’
FRONT OF HOUSE 5 EDITORIAL Directing opera
6 FEEDBACK Readers’ letters, emails and online posts
8 NEWS & NOTES ENO vows to protect fulltime musicians | Opera North announces 2015/16 season | Scottish Opera appoints new music director | Europe backs new website to stream free opera | and more…
MAIN STAGE 12 COVER FEATURE The English-born Australian soprano Jessica Pratt talks about subverting Italian conventions, going mad on stage, and memories of a dog named Fede
19 LEADERS OF THE PACK We celebrate the winners of this year’s International Opera Awards in London
22 A WEEKEND IN… Sofia – Bulgaria’s fascinating capital, where the national opera company is attracting
international attention with some surprising new stagings of Wagner
25 OPERA LANDMARKS Opera in the Balkans and Greece, from a new opera house in Athens to historic venues in Croatia and Montenegro
30 DIRECTOR’S CUT Sir David McVicar introduces a special focus on the role of the opera director
32 SEEKING DIRECTION Three young directors discuss their experiences of training on the job at London’s Royal Opera House
37 HIGH FIVE Introducing five of today’s most influential British opera directors
41 WELL PLACED Director Oliver Mears makes the case for productions that engage with the spirit of the place where they are staged
44 LIFE WITH MY VOICE Baritone Gerald Finley prepares to sing Rossini’s William Tell at Covent Garden
www.operanow.co.uk
47 TRAVELS WITH MY OPERA GLASSES Anthony Ogus visits Turin, Genoa and Monte Carlo
51 CRITICAL THINKING Freedom, humanism and metaphysics in Beethoven’s Fidelio
54 SQUILLO Michael White explores the often fraught relationship between opera and religious faith
THE CRITICAL VIEW 57-77 LIVE REVIEWS Tippett’s Ice Break gets a spectacular staging in Birmingham | Mike Leigh’s Pirates of Penzance flops at ENO | ETO’s ‘outstanding’ new opera for children | More new productions in Paris, London, Antwerp, Basel and Glasgow
79 FIRST TIMERS Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Covent Garden
BACK STAGE 84 COMPANY PROFILE Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts
98 EPILOGUE Opera Now’s cryptic crossword and monthly prize draw for opera lovers
89-96 SPOTLIGHT Opera Now’s INTERNATIONAL GUIDE to the best live performances this summer
PLUS Opera on screen
COMPETITIONS 98 Win Rossini’s Guillaume Tell on DVD from Decca!
MULTIMEDIA 81 NEW RELEASES Opera on CD, DVD and Blu-ray
COVER: Jessica Pratt. Photo by J Henry Fair
Opera Now JUNE 2015 3
