The composer’s seven-year-old promise, with some vocal help from Anna Dowsley, helps author Susie Bennetts. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Musica Viva’s Artistic Director says current cutbacks betray broadcaster’s Charter and will cripple classical music industry. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Albanian soprano who’s been compared to Callas talks about Violetta, the evils of false-marketing and why Zazà made her cry. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Finnish musician may not intend to commit murder but he certainly hopes for redemption. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Report puts debts close to $1 million with Liquidator saying there is “ample” public evidence to suggest criminality.

Music director Glen Roven has released the video for The Hillary Tapes starring a host of opera A-listers. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Szymanowski rarity marries spectacular staging with an intense erotic charge.

Tony Legge and Taryn Fiebig explain the delights in store for audiences prepared give in to a bit of erotic mysticism. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

One man and his microphones make you believe you've been up the Amazon.

Music director Glen Roven has issued the trailer for The Hillary Tapes starring a host of opera A-listers. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Ever since his Leipzig debut in 1896, Franz Lehár longed to be produced at the Vienna State Opera. The barriers – beginning with Mahler who thought his music amateurish – went up from the start. It was only  a financial crisis that led Clemens Krauss, desperate for a box office hit, to open the hallowed portals to the now famous composer in 1934. The result was Giuditta, and it tolled a knell not just for Lehár – it was his final stage work – but for Viennese operetta itself, an art form destined not to survive the Anschluss. That sense of resignation hangs over this bittersweet romance. Giuditta, an innkeeper’s wife, elopes with Octavio, a soldier, to Africa. When he slips off to battle, she believes herself abandoned, becomes a dancer and finally agrees to a liaison with a wealthy English Lord. Octavio returns too late – he still cares, but the song of love “faded away long ago”. Lehár really pushes the boat out, creating his richest, most beautifully orchestrated score, packed with melodic arias including Giuditta’s Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß. Ulf Schirmer’s new Munich recording is orchestrally stunning, perfectly paced with full, rich… Continue reading Get…

Lyndon Terracini has had his contract as OA Artistic Director extended until 2021. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in