November 2020 Volume 71 No. 11 Editor John Allison Deputy Editors Erica Jeal Henrietta Bredin Commercial Director Megan Jackson Editorial Board 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 Russell Bass, Cabbells Ltd Telephone: 020 3603 7937 russell@cabbells.uk Front cover Anna Shapovalova as Maria in the Bolshoy’s ‘Mazeppa’ (see pp. 1286-7) (photo: Damir Yusupov/Bolshoy Theatre)

Opera, October 2021

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal

and Rodney Milnes

1213 Long, long Covid

By the Editor 1214 Newsdesk 1219 People 500: Béatrice Uria-Monzon

Jon Tolansky 1227 The spirit of Wexford

Rosetta Cucchi talks to John Allison 1232 Readers’ letters 1237 Making people laugh

Great singers in great roles: Bruno Praticò talks to Stephen Hastings about Dr Bartolo 1244 How he stopped existing

John Allison on the trail of Ludomir Rogowski and his nine forgotten operas 1253 Made in Chelsea

Yehuda Shapiro on Chelsea Opera Group’s next moves 1257 Obituaries 1262 Opera around the world 1296 Opera in Britain 1312 Opera online 1313 Opera on DVD and Blu-ray 1317 Opera on CD 1322 Opera books 1325 Coming events

including plans for the UK houses, Rome; Spotlight; ‘We hear that …’; Opera calendar home and abroad 1335 Classified advertisements 1336 For the record

Dorothea Herbert

1209