| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 12-Oct-2012 Sydney Opera House: Opera Theatre | Heady stuff: A visceral production of Salome at Sydney Opera House |
 Salome was a huge, scandalous success at its 1905 première, and stagings of this, Richard Strauss’ third opera, have continued to shock audiences over the past century. This is hardly to be wondered at: after all, the title character’s final monologue ends with her kissing the severed head of John the Baptist, whom she has had executed for spurning her advances. The trifecta of religion, sex and violence was very much to the fore in Opera Australia’s new production, designed by Gale Edwards and her colleagues, which amped up the brutality and raunchiness considerably.Read full review... | |
| 29-Mar-2011 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Fidelio at the Royal Opera |
 Fidelio, Beethoven's only opera, is on the most universal of themes: the oppression of the innocent by the powerful and the virtue of the struggle for a loved one. It could be set at any time in any place, from Ancient Rome or China to our modern world. Jürgen Flimm's 2007 production, revived for Covent Garden, is timeless and placeless: only the weapons and costumes mark it in modern times, with a hint of "fall of Saddam Hussein" when workmen dismantle Don Pizarro's equestrian statue at the end, but we could be in any military prison anywhere in the world.
Read full review... | |
