Lesley Garrett

Sam Brown

par Robert Thicknesse

Artist of the month

Lesley Garrett

Don’t dismiss Lesley Garrett as just a fluffy TV celebrity. At heart, she is a serious artist who can bring depth and extraordinary emotional range to her performances. Warwick Thompson charts the singer’s return to opera after a long absence, in a role that explores a whole new dimension to the ‘Down-to-earth Diva’

A weekend in Cardiff

par Simon Rees

Room for two ?

With English National Opera’s fortunes seemingly in free fall, it’s time to take a radical look at opera provision in London that sets out a viable future for ENO. Can it be conceivable that one of the biggest and richest cities in Europe with a reputation for its international culture is unable to support more than one major operatic institution? Tom Sutcliffe goes in search of some answers

A breath of fresh air

par Ashutosh Khandekar

The appointment of a young general director with dynamic credentials is the latest development in a series of changes at Glyndebourne, ushering in a new era for the doyen of English country house opera. Ashutosh Khandekar assesses the new intake.

Packing a punch

par Robert Thicknesse

Robert Thicknesse travels to Belfast to explore the work of the UK’s youngest national opera company, punching far above its weight with a series of vivid, engaging productions that have captured the public’s imagination in Northern Ireland

An honorary scot

par Neil Jones

Following his appointment in June last year as only the fifth music director in Scottish Opera’s history, Stuart Stratford talks to Opera Now’s Neil Jones about his plans to revitalise the company and its unique cultural heritage

Songs of travel

par Robert Thicknesse

Robert Thicknesse catches up with English Touring Opera as it prepares for its ambitious spring tour of 21 towns and cities, from Truro in Cornwall to Perth in Scotland, taking opera to parts that few other British companies even attempt to reach

Travels with my opera glasses

par Professor Anthony Ogus

Professor Anthony Ogus experiences la vie en rose as he reacquaints himself with the charms of France, delighting in a bel canto classic in Paris and a lyrical postwar rarity in Rouen.