Peter Grimes is one of the roles for which American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey is best known: Australian audiences may have seen him in the cinema broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s Peter Grimes or at the West Australian Opera in 2009. This, however, is a much earlier Grimes, recorded live at Glyndebourne in 2000, and it’s likely his interpretation has matured since then. Griffey sings with a strong, often beautiful voice, but his delivery is disappointingly monochromatic and restrained, never properly plunging into the vast emotional depths the role offers. From the indignation of the Act I storm scene, to the wistfulness and subsequent violence of Act II, to the final desolation of the mad scene, Griffey’s Grimes sounds basically the same, his expressive palette too limited to suggest the character’s extraordinary trajectory. As his Ellen, Vivian Tierney makes a pallid beginning, but then hits her stride, singing the Embroidery Aria with a poignant, brittle sweetness. Susan Gorton is a suitably bawdy Auntie, though her voice is at times easily confused with that of Hilary Summers’ menacing Mrs Sedley, and Steven Page makes a solid if… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber?…

Opera Australia's Antoinette Halloran sings to a growing audience in her backyard.

The Chinese filmmaker talks about his love of Peking opera and why he has directed Turandot. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Limelight gives you a front-row seat inside the world's most illustrious opera theatres, old and new: their history, classic performances and the hottest tickets coming up.

On the centenary of WS Gilbert’s death, Tom Ford sheds light on the life without Sullivan. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The dilapidated Woollahra cottage and grounds expected to fetch more than $5.5m.

The tenor’s new advisory role is designed to restore credibility to the soccer association. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Mimì gets a makeover: three operas deconstructed with surprising results. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Deborah Voigt will reflect on personal and career triumphs since her controversial clash with Covent Garden. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Two of opera’s biggest stars have left the Met in the lurch for Tokyo performances. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

What does Melbourne's flagship company have in store when it welcomes Richard Mills as artistic director in 2013?

Fiona Campbell breathes new life into an unfairly neglected Baroque masterpiece.