Covent Garden has been challenging its Twitter followers to decode emoji-fied opera and ballet plots. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Be seduced by Monteverdi’s tale of lust and power in Lyric Opera’s colourful production.

Ahead of her appearances with the SSO, the mezzo talks big girl roles, speaking German, and the pleasures of the recital. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Audience members who have flouted the house’s dress code have been offered a unique solution.

Bubbling over with opulence, it doesn't get more fun than this.

A contemporary opera in Yorkshire, with music by Russell Sarre, sees two rival ice cream vending families face off.

As a child, the choreographer sat under the keyboard while his mother played – he just wishes he’d learned to play piano. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The clue is in the title. Bellini’s ‘graduation opera’ Adelson e Salvini is more buffo bromance than tragic romance, and none the worse for it. Composed while he was still a student at Naples’ Royal College of Music, and premiered by an all-male cast of fellow students in 1825, the work is a precociously tuneful, intermittently dramatic affair (though the less said about the 17th-century Irish plot the better). Rossini and Mozart are plentifully represented here in the younger composer’s first opera, but there are also tantalising hints of the mature composer to come, and this premiere recording by Opera Rara does its youthful promise proud. Opera Rara know how to put together a cast, and this one’s no exception. Baritone Simone Alberghini (Lord Adelson) and tenor Enea Scala (his friend, the painter Salvini) battle for the affections of the magnificent Daniela Barcellona’s Nelly – richly resonant, painting her vocal lines with the thickest of brush-strokes – while Maurizio Muraro blusters and booms characterfully as the Leporello-ish manservant Bonifacio. Rising young conductor Daniele Rustioni shapes an affectionate and lightfooted account of the score, deploying some lovely solo woodwind textures (skittish flutes for Bonifacio, melancholic oboes for Nelly’s Romanza Dopo l’oscuro…

Ahead of OA’s Thaïs, the French-Canadian baritone shares his early dream of being a singer in the style of Elton John. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

You have to admit, Handel knew how to craft a drama equal with the best at HBO. Theodora is a masterpiece, and with the drama focussed on the relationships between the central four characters, superbly sung, this is a story that resonates easily with modern audiences. With unity in direction, concept and lighting, this is a fantastic production. Although he’s top billing, Philippe Jaroussky (Didyme) is the weakest member of this ensemble of singing actors. Vocally, he is stunning, but a stronger presence on stage would have made more of the juxtaposition between the feminine quality of his vocal tone and the traditional heroism of his character. The soldier’s physicality is a little uncomfortable, and in stark contrast to his masculine costuming. However, Kresimir Spicer (Septime) is so astonishingly good that the comparison is a little unfair. He sails through the notorious Dread the Fruits of Christian Folly, with gravity defying coloratura while Descend, Kind Pity reveals his astonishing legato. The female cast is just as strong. Katherine Watson (Theodora) is youthful and sweet, balancing the steel and sweetness of the martyr. Her Irene is the captivating Stephanie d’Oustrac, whose extraordinary presence translates effortlessly to screen. William Christie paces superbly…

Six soloists from the Saarländisches Staatstheater joined the Canberra Symphony Orchestra for its International Opera Gala. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Jessica Pratt’s sleepwalker gets a free outing on the European opera streaming website, in a first for an Australian company.