Where is contemporary opera? | Claire Jackson

Opinion
Monday, June 26, 2023
| Opera Now

‘It’s perplexing to see that the Royal Opera House's 2023-24 season doesn’t feature a single contemporary work on the main stage’

'Although it requires elite performers, French Baroque opera is for all' - Laurence Cummings

Opinion
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
| Opera Now

Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music Laurence Cummings looks back on the history of French Baroque opera and considers why it is so neglected in the UK

Is it time to put the brakes on our intellectual superiority when talking about opera? | Andrew Mellor

Opinion
Friday, July 21, 2023
| Opera Now

Without tangible support, I fear that opera will truly wither | Harry Hyman

Opinion
Thursday, October 26, 2023
| Opera Now

In 2012 entrepreneur Harry Hyman set up the International Opera Awards with the aim of celebrating the art form and providing financial support to those in the profession. This year, more than ever, the awards provide a vital moment for celebration in the context of great adversity

'Week-in-week-out, I see examples of the ensemble system working brilliantly and failing miserably' | Opinion

Opinion
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
| Opera Now

How do you solve a problem like ensemble system?

Lila Palmer: ‘We do not have to choose between innovation and excellence – and we must not’

Opinion
Thursday, April 4, 2024
| Opera Now

The librettist Lila Palmer on setting the right direction for the development of opera in the 21st century

'If we want people of all backgrounds to engage with opera, it needs to happen in places fully accessible by public transport' | Prompter – Andrew Mellor

Opinion
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
| Opera Now

Life beyond the country house – one summer weekend in the broadsheets crystallises the stark crossroads facing British opera

Queer inheritance, politics and opera – writing 'Bermondsey, 1983'

Opinion
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
| Opera Now

Homophobia surrounded the 1983 Bermondsey by-election. Robert Reid Allan's true-story opera looks at this landmark in queer history and questions how far we have still to go

If Taylor Swift was an opera composer…

Opinion
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
| Opera Now

Exploring the singer’s parallels with Puccini and why the opera stage should utilise up-and-coming songwriters

Excellence and relevance in opera are not mutually exclusive | Andrew Mellor opinion

Opinion
Monday, July 15, 2024
| Opera Now

The traditional operatic canon can still profoundly speak to us today

Conservatoires need cultural change to fix their misconduct crisis | Leah Broad

Opinion
Thursday, October 19, 2023
| Opera Now

Scrapping one-to-one tuition might be an easy solution, but it’s not the right solution

Just how boring are modern piano recitals?

Opinion
Thursday, May 25, 2023
| International Piano

Piano recitals are boring. At least, some are. Charivari peruses concert programmes from another age and finds himself wishing that modern pianists were as willing to entertain

'In Europe, the industry treats "contemporary opera" as a problem' | Bill Bankes-Jones

Opinion
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
| Opera Now

Contemporary opera company Tête à Tête's Artistic Director on the future of new opera

Has opera had enough grey concrete?

Opinion
Thursday, April 4, 2024
| Opera Now

Why on earth am I being made to watch yet another operatic story told within grey concrete walls and under arid strip lighting?

Should I be concerned about the widespread ignorance of classical music?

Opinion
Thursday, June 1, 2023
| International Piano

In the wider world, why is ignorance bliss when it comes to classical music, wonders a despairing Charivari