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Brace yourself for a dialogue of quick-wit and verbal interrogation. Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill go at it full of guts and poise in Edward Albee’s 1962 play, ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I mean, that’s what I saw when I sat in the front row of the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Hill and Staunton are accompanied by Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots for a sweeping display of word wars and mockery, set in the living room of a home in New England. Both leads perform as married couple George and Matha in what appears to be a life consumed of fickle domestic fights which get louder as the hour moves on.

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Last week, Londoners weren’t expecting the terrifying events which took place at Westminster, leaving five dead and forty injured. Although devastating, the terrorist attack brought thousand of Londoners together, coining the hashtag #wearenotafraid as a positive stance against Islamic terrorist groups.

A year ago, the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) had pre-programmed a concert with French contralto singer and conductor Natalie Stutzmann, including two pieces associated with confronting death – Mozart’s Requiem and Richard Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung – and given the close proximity to such aftermath, Stutzmann introduced the concert with a speech, dedicating the concert to those who lost their lives at Westminster and their families. She said, ‘May their souls find solace and appeasement in this offering.’

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Returning after two years is Mike Leigh’s inimitable production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, which is notably stronger in direction and performance compared to its first outing. It didn’t make the cut for some critics who complained about its cavernous and abstract staging for the London Coliseum’s large theatre, which has a capacity reaching 2,350. That said, this is the same production that took more than £600,000 at the UK box office, with roughly 40,000 viewers, when it was screened in cinemas for a one-night showing. I know, go figure.

After some past disappointments, what are we to expect from Mike Leigh this time round? Firstly, Sarah Tipple directs this revival, yet the same designer Alison Chitty is here to stay. The simple, fluorescent, blind-your-eyes shades aren’t leaving the ENO just yet, however, this doesn’t seem a problem when the performers have great voices and provide something unique and wacky to their characterisation. After all, this is the comedy writings of W. S Gilbert.

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The ENO has revived an original Jonathan Miller production that took flight in 1982 – it received rave reviews regarding its unique and authentic stage work. Back in 1982, Miller’s innovation came from shifting Verdi’s original 19th century Italian Renaissance setting to the 1950s, a world of organised crime and gangster mafia. For Miller, a familiar and relatable reality, fuelled by betrayal, lawlessness, and murder, confirmed how equally disturbing and dark Verdi’s opera is.

Various accounts from those who saw it back then spoke kindly of Miller’s artistry, however, after seeing it at the Coliseum, revived by Elaine Tyler-Hall with designers Rosemary Vercoe and Patrick Robertson, whatever magic they saw then didn’t seem present here. Perhaps for the 1980s this was a novelty, but after three decades, where stage directing has clearly evolved, this may not seem so new to a contemporary audience. Nevertheless, there are some extraordinary moments and performances to take away from this revived undertaking.

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The mighty Jonas Kaufmann and leading lieder pianist Helmut Deutsch performed at The Barbican this weekend for the first in three concerts of their Kaufmann Residency programme. The concert was a long-awaited return for Kaufmann who had spent months away from the stage due to a vocal illness – seeing him last night just proved how healthy the man was, and how prepared he was to perform again.

This is not the first time that Kaufmann and Deutsch have performed together. In fact, they have recorded CDs (including works by Richard Strauss and Schubert) and performed at international concert halls; New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Wigmore Hall, to name a few. Their musical partnership and long-term friendship was visible last night, including their remarkable synergy working and performing together.

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Fidelio is not a conventional opera. For many reasons it can be ‘mission impossible’ for directors, said Vladimir Jurowski at the pre-talk last night, just before he got on the podium to conduct and perform with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO).

For one thing, Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera, and its development took on various stages due to some political censorship. He originally wanted to name it Leonore or The Triumph of Marital Love, yet the censors were actively stalling its premiere in 1805 until the opera had been radically changed. This resulted with an amended libretto that eventually premiered in 1814 at the Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna. Thirdly, there’s the unusual structure; the combination of Rescue Opera (literally an opera about someone being rescued which was very popular in the early 18th century in French and Germany) and spoken dialogue, that is Singspiel.

Now, in 2017, Daniel Slater has directed a semi-stage production with soloists and chorus singers moving between and around Jurowski and the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall. The rescue narrative follows Leonore disguising herself as a prison guard called Fidelio to save her husband Florestan who has been unjustly imprisoned by political despot Pizarro. The first act sees everyone, including the LPO, dressed down. Yet, unexpectedly, in between the musical numbers two actors, Helen Ryan and Simon Williams, provide a meta narrative, and some pearls of wisdom or do they?

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Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (The Rosebearer or The Knight of the Rose) was performed at the Royal Opera House as a brand new production set in a Viennese dream by Robert Carsen and designer Paul Steinberg at the close of 2016. In the beginning performances, the Marschallin was performed by legendary soprano Renée Fleming that this may potentially be her last time at the Covent Garden. The Marschallin’s gentle lover Octavian was performed by trouser role star Alice Coote, both expected at the New York Met this Spring. Due to the popularity of these performances, I was able to ascertain a ticket but I managed to see Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Anna Stéphany united as the Marschallin and Octavian who gave touching and exquisite performances for the opening scene.

The Marschallin’s palace looks as grand as the Imperial Palace in Vienna; gold, decadent and ornate with excessively huge beds and countless large doors that never seem to end. The sight of both of these lovers singing in this extravagant, vast space hones in on their strong and tender feelings for one another combined with lush vocals. The audience gain insight into the characters mindsets’ through convincing performances by Willis-Sorensen and Stephany: Marschallin’s nostalgia over the past, Octavian’s devotion to her, and the magnitude of their attraction.

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Richard Eyre’s production of Verdi’s grand masterpiece La Traviata is made for everyone, yet for those who do not enjoy the sight of period costumes may stray far away. I support the 19th century traditional staging, here, which gives the audience a glimpse of the play La Dame aux camelias or Alexandre Dumas’s novel, which were the influences behind Verdi’s opera.

Eyre’s staging recounts the bourgeois lifestyle of Victorian Paris, revived by Bob Crowley and Andrew Sinclair. It’s enchanting traditionalism and classical vantage point of the Parisian aristocracy is brought to life by warm hues, symbolising the passion instilled in our heroine’s story.

Admittedly I’ve seen Richard Eyre’s production three times which tells you probably a lot about my interest in the production, let alone the opera. In 2014, Violetta was sung by Ailyn Pérez which I saw at a BP live broadcast at Trafalgar square, then in 2016 I watched as Sonya Yoncheva broke everyone’s heart at the Covent Garden.

Last night, as part of ROH’s 2017 programme, Joyce El-Khoury sang as Violetta, adorned with elegant Victorian couture as the Parisian demi-monde. Continue reading

There are two realities: a scene from the Medieval era of a Protector, a rich landowner, enlisting an illuminator of manuscripts to capture his life into a book while another scene follows angels milling around a sterile studio or laboratory, watching over them. Little does the landowner know that this ‘Boy’ is an angel in disguise who falls in love with his wife Agnès who is deeply enamored by his art. They pursue a clandestine affair that ends with bloody consequences – nothing can take away the delicious taste of the Boy’s heart from Agnès’s mouth.

Composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp received praise and success at their 2012 opening at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Written in Skin is so good that it has been performed internationally, including New York, Amsterdam, Toulouse, Munich, and Vienna. Last Friday they returned back to the Royal Opera House with the same directors and designers, Katie Mitchell and Vicky Mortimer, after their 2013 outing to remind audiences at the Covent Garden of what crisp and original opera writings feels, sounds and looks like.

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Golden Globe awards have been won and having brought in $100 million at the box office and climbing up the US charts with a killer soundtrack, La La Land continues to soar as the best film of 2016. The hype from the press and social media suggested that viewers would be getting something original from Hollywood. The idea of our favourite heartthrob, Ryan Gosling, and American sweetheart, Emma Stone, taking us on a brightly-lit journey of hope, love, song, dance and tears had people eagerly reserving tickets to see it on the first night it was released. Yet rather than satisfaction, mixed opinions abound – not everyone was reeling as much as the critics who gave it a five-star rating.

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