Glyndebourne
Dressing up for the opera is not elitist
It’s June, and the country-house summer opera festivals are now in full swing. Glyndebourne, which opened the season last month,…
I fear for this year’s Proms
As Sepp Blatter has so affectingly remarked, the organisation he formerly headed needs evolution, not revolution. There is a consensus…
Was Glyndebourne right to revive Donizetti's Poliuto? No, says Michael Tanner
It’s been a busy operatic week, with a nearly great concert performance of Parsifal in Birmingham on Sunday (reviewed by…
Winslow Hall shows you don’t need fancy sets to make opera enjoyable
Winslow Hall is a large and handsome country house in Buckinghamshire, built in 1700 by Sir Christopher Wren, which Tony…
I can’t see the point of Glyndebourne’s La traviata
One of the highlights of last year’s Glyndebourne Festival was the revival of Richard Jones’s Falstaff, spruced up and invigorated…
Royal Opera's Maria Stuarda: pathos and nobility from Joyce DiDonato, lazy nonsense from the directors
London is lucky to have heard Joyce DiDonato at the height of her powers in two consecutive seasons. The American…
Sorry, Tara Erraught, but the age of the fat lady singing is over
London’s opera critics have been roundly condemned for suggesting that a female singer’s personal appearance could make her unsuitable for…
A Rosenkavalier without a heart ain’t much of a Rosenkavalier
In all its minute details, Der Rosenkavalier is rooted in a painstakingly stylised version of Rococo Vienna that, paradoxically, is…
Why Glyndebourne’s George Christie always cut his own hair
One curious fact about Sir George Christie, who died last week, aged 79, was that he always cut his own…
Robin Ticciati interview: ‘Glyndebourne is a festival where the established and the fresh exist together’
Michael Henderson talks to Glyndebourne’s fresh-faced new music director, Robin Ticciati
Overrated Strauss vs underrated Gluck
This is the first of my more-or-less monthly columns, the idea of which is to report on operatic events other…
Michael Tanner’s Glyndebourne experience is ruined by the traffic
What could be more delightful than going to Gyndebourne with someone who has never been before, arriving in time for…
When Glyndebourne is the most perfect place on earth
Glyndebourne. There is no single quintessential example of English scenery, but this is one of the finest. The landscape is …