June 2019 Volume 70 No. 6 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 and customer services Esco, Trinity 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 ‘Die Meistersinger ’ at the Salzburg Easter Festival (see pp. 702-3) (photo: OFS/Monika Rittershaus)

Opera, June 2019

663 Murphy’s law

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal

and Rodney Milnes

By the Editor 664 The International Opera A wards 2019 668 Readers’ letters 670 People 474: Ermonela Jaho Yehuda Shapiro 676 Witches and bitches

Rosalind Plowright talks to Andr ew Mellor 680 Newsdesk 685 Carry on singing

In the final article of his series, Stephen A. Brown looks at the role played by c ompetitions and young artists’ programmes 691 Heather Harper, 1930-2019

Hugh Canning 694 Obituaries 696 Opera around the world 745 Opera in Britain 768 Opera on CD 780 Opera on DVD and Blu-ray 782 Opera books 784 Coming events

including plans for the UK houses (with the 2019-20 seasons at ENO and Scottish Opera), Toulouse; ‘We hear that …’ ; Opera calendar home and abroad 799 Classified advertisements 800 For the record …

Yehuda Shapiro

657