The legendary American soprano brings jazz and Broadway classics Down Under. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The experimental director brought the “creative genius” of classical composers to life on screen. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Australian countertenor David Hansen might be the first male singer in over 250 years to tackle the role of Ottone.

What is the opera singer Nathalie Stutzmann doing on the cover of her new album with a baton in her hand? She may be a Prima Donna, but she’s certainly wearing the pants for this recording, in which she sings with and conducts her own period ensemble, Orfeo 55, even wielding a tambourine on the final track. The French contralto is undoubtedly a musicians’ singer, and her insights into this repertoire, as a frequent star of Naïve’s Vivaldi opera edition, are invaluable. Prima Donna emphatically reclaims these arias from the castrati, acknowledging Vivaldi’s own preference for the warmth of the female contralto voice. He would have loved Stutzmann’s – smooth and velvety across all registers and precise in coloratura despite a rich vibrato. Her focus, however, seems to be sculpting a fine melodic line rather than building the kind of dramatic intensity needed in Juditha’s Agitata infido flatu. She is at her most persuasive, then, luxuriating in the slower tempi of Cor mio che prigion sei and Transit aetas. But some high-energy moments impress: lively recitative in Gemo in un punto e fremo, a peppy L’innocenza sfortunata (this version is the most fun I’ve heard on disc) and… Continue reading Get…

The glamorous Korean soprano on “flirting” with her audience, meeting Dame Joan, and singing with her dog. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The story of opera from its origins in the Italian Baroque to the singular vision of Wagner and beyond.

A controversial new production puts the master composer in chains. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Angela Gheorghiu pays tribute to Maria Callas in this collection of verismo arias closely associated with La Divina. Gheorghiu is no more the “Next Callas” than any other soprano, but in terms of repertoire and prima donna glamour, she’s arguably the best qualified for a venture such as this. Gheorghiu is in strong form, if not quite as versatile as her illustrious predecessor. She’s a resplendently flighty Nedda, revels in the lachrymose possibilities of Le Cid and Medea, and is of course marvellous as Violetta, a role which is as much hers as Callas’s these days. The breathy girlishness of Marguerite’s Jewel Song and Mimì’s Donde lieta is less appealing, however, while Delilah needs a smokier, more seductive timbre than she can muster. Comparisons aside, though, this stands alone as a solid representation of Gheorghiu’s artistry – sometimes mannered, sometimes compelling and very pretty – with Armiliato mostly following her lead. There’s just one oddity on this album: a digitally manipulated “duet” between Gheorghiu and, yes, Callas, singing Carmen’s Habanera. It’s a strange idea and frankly unnecessary, but it’s not quite as kitschy as it could have been, and shouldn’t deter those keen to hear Gheorghiu… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

The Four Last Songs are by far his most famous, but before those late masterpieces, Richard Strauss wrote dozens of other orchestral songs – some conceived as such, others orchestrations of his songs for piano and voice. Strauss’s lifelong love affair with the female voice is as apparent here as in his operas, and in this new collection Diana Damrau repays his affection in full with a ravishing set of performances. The silvery tone and effervescent charisma which have brought Damrau such acclaim as Strauss’s Sophie and Zerbinetta carry well into his songs, and her natural exuberance – so well suited to comic heroines – is tempered with sincere expression. The coloratura-filled Brentano-Lieder are a natural choice, of course, and Damrau doesn’t disappoint (her Säusle, liebe Myrte is especially enchanting) but she’s equally impressive in darker, less showy songs, including a moving account of the stormy, seven-minute-long Lied der Frauen. Perhaps loveliest of all are Damrau’s accounts of songs from mother to child: Wiegenlied, Meinem Kinde and the irresistible Muttertändelei are delivered with touching warmth and tenderness. The oft-recorded favourites are here too, and while Morgen! and Allerseelen might demand a maturer sound, Damrau’s delivery lends a note… Continue reading…

The magazine pays tribute to Joan Sutherland a year after her death.

La Stupenda's spectacular original costumes are on display in London's Royal Opera House.

The Duchess of Cambridge and her father-in-law have been enjoying performances at Covent Garden. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in