The Graham Vicks production of FALSTAFF opened the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, and was not to everybody's taste; the garish primary colours of the costumes. The staging is effective--the complicated counterpoint of the ensembles is reflected in unobtrusive blocking that keeps the vocal lines clear and separate, especially in the final fugue. Bryn Terfel's Falstaff is a memorable creation, self-mocking and self-aggrandising at the same time--so much so, in fact, that he almost does not need the vast prosthetic body he has to wear for the part. Desiree Rancatore is an admirably sweet-toned Nanetta; Bernadette Manca di Nissa an appropriately sardonic Mistress Quickly; Roberto Frontali as Ford, in his Act 2 scena, perfectly distils and parodies every jealousy aria ever written, including Verdi's own. Haitink's conducting is exemplary in the lyrical passages, gets almost everything out of the fast and furious comic sections.

An illustrious British boarding school becomes a bloody battleground when a mysterious sinkhole appe...

Macbeth" was Giuseppe Verdi's first attempt at music drama and also the first manifestation of his p...

Beethoven’s only opera is a masterpiece, an uplifting story of risk and triumph. In this new product...

Opera di Giuseppe Verdi a Milano.

After the overthrowing of Duke Senior by his tyrannical brother, Senior's daughter Rosalind disguise...
The film is a contempary-set version of William Shakespeare's play As You Like It.

Shakespeare's As You Like It is a delightful romantic comedy , lavishly staged by the renowned Strat...

A knight must deliver a message to the king of the rival kingdom, but upon seeing his enormous head,...

The girlfriend of a beatnik-hippy artist enjoys having her body painted, posing naked for her boyfri...

This is an excellent version of one of the greatest of all comic operas, featuring superb singing an...

Charming, light-hearted and fizzing with subversive wit, Neil Armfield's sparkling production of the...

Captured live from Naples’ splendid San Carlo Theatre – the world’s oldest continuously running publ...

When Written on Skin had its premiere at the 2012 Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, conducted by George Be...
This production of Hans Werner Henze's opera Upupa & Der Triumph der Sohnesliebe features Laura Aike...

Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden in this performance of Wagner's opera record...
Christian Thielemann conducts this Staatskapelle Dresden production of Richard Strauss' chamber oper...

This performance of the Richard Strauss opera Frau ohne Schatten, recorded live and in high definiti...