by Colin Clarke | Oct 3, 2026 | Music, Uncategorized
Director Evgeny Titov makes his Covent Garden debut with this new Parsifal, a vision made visceral via Etienne Pluss’ sets and D. M. Wood’s lighting. ‘Dystopian’ seems the mot juste for Titov’s take on Wagner’s Bühnenweihfestspiel. Acts One and Three take place in... 
by Colin Clarke | Jun 16, 2026 | Music
It is truly astonishing to think that this is Glyndebourne’s first Monteverdi L’Orfeo. It is not the first Monteverdi there, though: both Poppea (first seen 1962), and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (1972) have previously featured. One of the earliest operas... 
by Colin Clarke | Mar 18, 2026 | Music
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, March 17, 2026 Review by Colin Clarke Barrie Kosky’s most recent staging of the Ring continues at Covent Garden with Siegfried; the director had previously declared himself unsatisfied with his staging for Staatsoper Hannover... 
by Colin Clarke | Oct 19, 2025 | Drama, Music
Photo © The Royal Opera | Johan Persson RBO / Maria Jacquot A revival of David McVicar’s time-honoured production of Mozart’ s Die Zauberflöte always brings up the old chestnut of just how does one tackle this most elusive of operas? Is it a fairy tale? It... 
by Colin Clarke | May 31, 2025 | Uncategorized
Already, this year has seen Glyndebourne’s first Parsifal (click here for review); now, Opera Holland Park gives us its first Wagner, full stop. There’s a flying Dutchman in town. The staging is by Julia Burbach (who early in the 2025/6 season will direct...