February 2022 Volume 73 No. 2 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 Asmik Grigorian (see pp. 138-43) (photo: T. Kolesnikov)

Opera, February 2022

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal

and Rodney Milnes

133 Year Three

By the Editor 134 Newsdesk 138 People 503: Asmik Grigorian

Rupert Christiansen 143 Readers’ letters 145 In the present moment

On what would have been her 100th birthday, Stephen Hastings celebrates Renata Tebaldi 153 ‘My dear benefactress’

Margaret Frainier on the female confidantes who shaped Tchaikovsky’s artistic vision 159 Children of Piraeus

John Allison on Greek National Opera’s new initiatives 163 Epicurean voices

Wolfgang Denker reintroduces some forgotten Greek singers 168 Obituaries 175 Opera around the world 222 Opera in the UK 231 Opera on CD 238 Opera on DVD and Blu-ray 242 Opera books 244 Coming events

including plans for the UK houses; ‘We hear that …’; Opera calendar home and abroad 255 Classified advertisements 256 For the record

James Gaffigan

129