As the rain pelted our green and pleasant lands this week (and helped to endure), even the most virtuous have given up on the idea of a miserable stay. An election in early July means that even our politicians won’t have to pretend to lead the way by claiming to be enjoying a freezing English… Read More »
According to American writer Jodi Picoult, Shakespeare’s plays were written by a woman and clues were present in Romeo, Juliet and Othello. Picoult, whose books have sold 40 million copies, turned his attention to Ozan in his latest novel. He supports the theory that Emilia Bassano, poet and contemporary of William Shakespeare, was the real… Read More »
Every opera company, large, small, private, public, urban or suburban, is preoccupied with the same dry equation: how to combine artistic ambition with financial reality. One answer will always be correct. Georges Bizet Carmen. Going gold at the box office, this 1875 French masterpiece is everywhere. The Royal Opera House’s new staging has been extended.… Read More »
Home to bullfights, flamenco, colorful festivals and the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, Seville should be on everyone’s bucket list. Sometimes overlooked by big cities like Madrid and Barcelona, Seville may be smaller but there’s a reason it’s known as the Pearl of Andalusia. Originally the economic center of the Spanish empire, the country’s fourth largest… Read More »
Opera is generally big: big sound, big emotions, big sets. So when Opera Australia announced it would stage Puccini’s Tosca at the Margaret Court Arena (a 7,500-seat sports stadium, but less than half are used), it didn’t seem like an entirely ridiculous proposition. But still, as the curtain fell on the great tragedy, as three… Read More »
I recently took my mother to a well-known farm-to-table restaurant in Athens. It’s not particularly seafood focused, but it looks like it’s on the ship when I visit. When I told the hostess while seating us that I was allergic to shellfish, she looked at me as if I had told her I was allergic.… Read More »
How much difference can two years make? In December 2021, Giovanni Pernice was one half of arguably the most popular partnership in Strictly Come Dancing history, alongside actress Rose Ayling-Ellis. The duo won the glitter ball that year and their silent Couple’s Choice dance won a Bafta. Richard Osman tweeted at the time: “If social… Read More »
Every summer since the days of Mao Zedong, leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have retreated to the seaside resort of Beidaihe to discuss the country’s future in the comfort of luxury seaside villas hidden behind high walls. A four-hour drive from the distractions of Beijing, it was the perfect place to escape the capital’s… Read More »
Amid the jukebox songs and time-honored classics of the West End stage, a new genre of musical theater is rising. It is a singing, dancing genre mental health musical that highlights identity and personal crises. This means that many new musicals trigger warnings that the upcoming performance may include suicidal teenagers and sexual assault, as… Read More »
Sir Mark Elder never forgot his debut with the Hallé Orchestra more than 40 years ago. “We were singing Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole and had just hit our first big burst of energy,” he says with a cheerful smile. There was supposed to be dramatic silence, but the side drum stand collapsed, knocking over the cymbal… Read More »