Mainly Opera and Ballet
A composer’s first opera may well be forgotten, though certainly not that of Viennese composer Alban Berg — Wozzeck (succeeded by Lulu, which was competed just after Berg’s early death at the age of 50) remains very much in the international repertory. Based on a play by the German dramatist Georg Büchner who died very …
They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings, but in this case the final moment is the sneeze, which for a man who lost his nose is the true test of recovery. It all starts with the sound of the wonderful John Tomlinson as the barber sharpening his razor on a leather strap. …
This delightful comic opera by Benjamin Britten creates a deftly woven musical tapestry performed by thirteen instrumentalists and roughly the same number of singers. Eric Crozier based his libretto on a tale by Guy de Maupassant, transferring it to a Suffolk town and creating a glorious critique of small town mentality, pomposity and sexual repression. …
