FRONT OF HOUSE 5 EDITORIAL The legacy of the pandemic 6 LETTERS Your thoughts and suggestions 8 THE ESSAY Managing singers when international opera shuts down 10 NEWS & NOTES New seasons’ announcements. In Memoriam Lady Valerie Solti. Young Critics Competition
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REVIEWS 52-57 LIVE REVIEWS Mahagonny-Songspiel/Seven Deadly Sins at La Scala Milan (52), Siegfried at Gothenburg Opera (54), Die Walküre at the New National Theatre, Tokyo (56) 58-67 RECORDINGS Reviews of new releases, including DVDs of Alfano’s Risurrezione and Cavalli’s Ercole Amante and the world premiere recording of Czernowin’s Heart Chamber. Mezzo soprano Kate Lindsey on her latest album, Tiranno. Three solo albums by Universal artists Lise Davidsen, Freddie De Tommaso and Hera Hyesang Park. Laurence Equilbey’s new 200th anniversary release of Der Freischütz plus our choice of recordings of Weber’s masterpiece, and more… 68-70 BOOKS The lives and times of singing legends 71 STREAMING Guide to US opera streams
74-78 SPOTLIGHT A guide to international opera in a changing world
COVER PHOTO: STEVEN HARRIS
www.operanow.co.uk
‘You need resilience, security
and strength, to be able to manage your life as a singer’
CONTENTS
14 LETTER FROM Salzburg, where the festival is hoping for a second chance at its centenary celebrations 18 MEASURING UP Our cover star Cuban-American soprano Lisette Oropesa is building a formidable reputation in European houses, showing charm and determination even at the height of the pandemic 29 SPACED OUT How opera companies are inventing and adapting venues for pandemic conditions 34 ARTIST PROFILE A thrilling, versatile performer, soprano Jennifer French is fearless when it comes to tackling the most complex music that contemporary opera composers throw her way
24 CELEBRATING FRANCO CORELLI Some regard him as the greatest tenor of the 20th century. On the centenary of his birth, we celebrate the stellar career of Corelli on film and in the recording studio
38 DIRECTOR’S CUT The provocative Italian director Damiano Michieletto discusses sex, violence and his new production of Ká’ta Kabanová at Glyndebourne
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42 DESIGN Andrew D Edwards introduces his stylish designs for a new production of La Cenerentola at The Grange this summer 45 FUTURE OPERA The last in our series examining recent trends in opera and their impact on the art forms future 49 TRAVELS FROM MY ARMCHAIR Still housebound, Professor Anthony Ogus finds that opera online has its adventurous side 80 MY FAVOURITE THINGS Baritone Sir Thomas Allen on the pleasures of life beyond opera 82 QUIZ Put your operatic knowledge to the test
OperaNow May/June 2021 3
