Opera Japonica/Archives/Letters from London 2001

Ruth Elleson's Letters from London 2001

January

Das Rheingold at the English National Opera: left to right, Leslie John Flanagan (Donner), Mark Richardson (Fasolt), Rhys Meirion (Froh), Orla Boylan (Freia) and Stephen Richardson (Fafner)

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

The Coliseum is currently undergoing a long-term programme of changes and refurbishment, but this has not prevented English National Opera from undertaking one of the most ambitious projects in the company's recent history.Having been absent from the ENO repertoire for twenty years,Wagner's Ring Cycle is to reappear in a new production, cast mainly from the company's own ever-strengthening ensemble.

It is to be a gradual process, because the company principals concerned have little experience in Wagner and the artistic team is anxious that they are well prepared. Clearly some of the biggest roles cannot currently be cast from company forces, and unless a couple of Heldentenors and a seriously dramatic soprano can be found very quickly, a certain number of guest artists will have to be engaged. But the entire enterprise is still very much a home-grown affair, the completion of which will take five seasons. Director Phyllida Lloyd will stage one opera at a time, starting after the completion of the renovation project, and until then, concert performances of Das Rheingold (this season) and Die Walküre (next season) will give audiences a taster of 'the real thing'.

I recently attended two of the Rheingold performances which, far from being concert performances, were brilliantly semi-staged and thrillingly lit. Who would have thought that the interior of the Coliseum's auditorium could be transformed so effectively into the exterior walls of Valhalla, or that deepest Nibelheim could be created from nothing more than some stage smoke and red light? With staging of such quality, I would be more than content with an entire Ring Cycle given on this basis. The only weakness was the orchestra who, even under the expert baton of Paul Daniel, marred the first hour or so of each concert with insecure entries and questionable intonation.

The Royal Opera's revival of Falstaff has been widely criticized by those who didn't like the production in the first place, but it has won almost universal acclaim for its cast. The greatest praise was heaped upon two house débutants - the Italian Paolo Gavanelli, in the opera's title role, and the outstanding young English soprano Sally Matthews, who filled in at the last minute for Jenny Grahn as Nanetta. Another revival, of Pfitzner's Palestrina, also proved popular with the critics when it opened on the 29th.

Alongside the Rheingold concerts, ENO continues to run David Pountney's production of Nabucco, adapted for an auditorium now free of the scaffolding walkways that defined the Italian Season. Revivals of The Cunning Little Vixen and Chairmen will open during February. Alongside Palestrina at Covent Garden, Jane Eaglen and Dennis O'Neill will star in a revival of Turandot, and a new cast will continue in the popular new production of La Cenerentola.

Elsewhere in London there has been little to comment on, as most companies have only just resumed business after the Christmas break. Only a couple of extremely mediocre touring productions of La bohème have attempted to plug he gap, along with some higher-quality gala concerts in honour of Verdi's centenary. February, in contrast, offers a wide variety of performances in all the major venues. The Royal Albert Hall, following last year's hugely popular revival of Madama Butterfly, will stage Aida along the same lines. On the South Bank, the Queen Elizabeth Hall provides the setting for concert performances of Schumann's Genoveva, by Opera North, and Thomas's Hamlet, by Chelsea Opera Group. The Barbican plays host to further Verdi galas, along with a recital by Karita Mattila and a performance by Les Arts Florissants of Dido and Aeneas in a double bill with Charpentier's Actéon. Purcell is also the order of the month at the Wigmore Hall, where a concert of The Fairy Queen will take place. And at the Royal Academy of Music, an unusual double-bill will be staged courtesy of London Royal Schools Opera - Le docteur Miracle (Bizet) and Il signor Bruschino (Rossini).

February

The Cunning Little Vixen at the English National Opera: Sarah Connolly as the Dog Fox and Susan Gritton as the Vixen in Act Two

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

With the new year now well underway, London's opera scene is in the midst of a couple of very hectic months. While March will offer a large selection of unusual repertoire, February has been dominated by repertoire standards.

The English National Opera's Carmen is the month's best example of what opera should be all about. The most notable aspect of the current revival of Jonathan Miller's production is conductor Vassily Sinaisky, in charge of the first of two casts. He teases the rhythm of the Habañera in such a way that it not only oozes sex, but gives the impression that one hasn't heard it a thousand times before. He offers an expansive reading of the more lyrical moments, such as the first-act duet for Don José and Micäela, the prelude to the third act, and especially Micäela's mountain aria, sung lusciously by soprano Susannah Glanville. His reading of the score is never lacking in atmosphere, and his handling of the chorus in their various different guises is especially adept.

Not that the conductor alone can be held responsible for the success of this revival, which hinges also on an exceptionally strong set of principal singers. As Carmen, mezzo Louise Winter is at her sultry best in the second act, while as Don José, tenor John Hudson really comes into his own in a thrillingly dramatic Act 4. As Escamillo, Ashley Holland exudes all the confidence of celebrity, singing the role with real vocal style. Even the tiniest roles are cast from strength, with Alycia Fashae (Frasquita), Victoria Simmonds (Mercedes) and Leigh Melrose (Morales) the best of the bunch. Not to be outdone, the company has a second set of principals to watch out for in the same staging - the alternate cast features David Rendall, Linda Richardson and Roberto Salvatori, with the big box-office draw being the Carmen of Sally Burgess. The conductor is Brad Cohen.

Carmen at the English National Opera: Louise Winter in the title role in Act One

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

Also at ENO this month came a revival of David Pountney's production of The Cunning Little Vixen. The energetic, original staging was inhabited this time by a cast including Susan Gritton, Peter Coleman-Wright, Sarah Connolly and David Kempster, with a supporting cast drawn mainly from the ENO chorus. And as Nabucco neared the end of its long run, the role of Abigaille was sung at one performance by the promising young dramatic soprano Susan Stacey, who stepped in to replace Lauren Flanigan with great success.

The Cunning Little Vixen at the English National Opera: Susan Gritton as the Vixen

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

At the Royal Opera House, Andrei Serban's critically acclaimed production of Turandot is back for a revival. Unbelievably, Jane Eaglen has not sung a major role at Covent Garden before - she is almost certainly one of the many artists whose career development in the UK has been delayed by the house's long closure - but she makes an exciting stab at a title role which she has already sung at the Met. She makes up vocally for what she lacks in ease of movement on stage, which is more than can be said for her Calaf, Dennis O'Neill, who has neither. Both are comprehensively outshone by house débutante Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, also fresh from a Met success in the role of Liù, who has the voice, the presence and the general performing skills to make her into an instant house favourite. Christian Badea conducted a company which sounded woefully under-rehearsed on the first night, but which showed sufficient potential to make the later performances an exciting prospect. In the same house this month, the season's seemingly endless Tosca revival continues with a third cast, featuring Nelly Miricioiu and Vladimir Galouzine, and the enjoyable new production of La Cenerentola has an attractive second cast including Sophie Koch and Kenneth Tarver. Thomas Hampson gave a song recital; Kiri Te Kanawa will follow in his footsteps next month.

And for those who are into glossy, corporate-sponsored populism, Raymond Gubbay and friends returned to the Royal Albert Hall this month for a new production of Aida, mounted in the round and sung in English. Like Madama Butterfly in 1998 and 2000, the triple-cast staging is playing to packed houses, sometimes twice a day. This time there hasn't been a great deal of controversy over the issue of amplification, which these productions always use - but then again, they are not really aimed at the complaining opera snob. The only real complaint I have about this Aida - and I had the same problem with Butterfly - is the ticket prices. Opera for the masses should be attainable at decent rates. Covent Garden has a reputation for overpriced elitism, but the fact is that you can get a seat with a good view and terrific acoustics for around £10, as long as you know what to look for - and that includes productions with big-name casts. It's fairly unusual to be able to find a single familiar name in a Gubbay-promoted production, but ticket prices begin at £20, and for a seat from which the stage is actually visible you're looking at a minimum of £35. At £50, the top-priced seats are roughly in line with the Coliseum's best seats, and half the price of Covent Garden's best - but this isn't much help to the budget end of the market, for whom no doubt the myth has been perpetuated that one has to sell the family jewels for a night at the opera. And the performance I saw (from a £35 seat, which a year ago would have been out of my price range) was not of a sufficient standard to justify the expense.

Amid all the standards, the concert halls and conservatoires have had some unusual material on offer for those who knew where to look. The month included a concert performance by Opera North of Schumann's Genoveva, and one by Chelsea Opera Group of Thomas's Hamlet (especially memorable for a dazzling performance by soprano Judith Howarth as Ophélie) both at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The works of Henry Purcell got exposure with The Fairy Queen at the Wigmore Hall, and Dido and Aeneas, which was given in a double bill with Charpentier's Actéon, at the Barbican. The Royal Academy of Music put on a pair of 19th-century operas - Bizet's Le docteur Miracle and Rossini's Il signor Bruschino.

March looks even better, both from the aspect of rarity value and simply in terms of variety. The Royal Opera House is mounting a new production of Boulevard Solitude, Hans Werner Henze's take on the Manon Lescaut story. ENO will revive its 1998 production of Il trittico, with a cast which looks much stronger than last time - Peter Coleman-Wright leads the cast of Il tabarro with his wife Cheryl Barker, who also sings Suor Angelica with Anne-Marie Owens as the Zia Principessa, whilst Andrew Shore and Mary Plazas top the bill in Gianni Schicchi. The company will also revive Jonathan Miller's Il barbiere di Siviglia with the first of two casts. Elsewhere, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama will stage Rimsky-Korsakov's Snegurochka, while the same school's Early Opera Project will result in a performance of L'incoronazione di Poppea at St John's, Smith Square. University College London Opera's student chorus will be joined by professional principals for their annual production, which this year is the British première of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo. The Linbury Studio Theatre plays host first to a charity performance of Bizet's Djamileh, then to a staging by the Classical Opera Company of Mozart's Il re pastore. The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to a concert performance of Acis and Galatea, while at the Barbican there will be a song recital by Karita Mattila and a joint operatic recital by Sergei Leiferkus and Galina Gorchakova. Even the lesser-known venues are busy this month, with small-scale productions of Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro both due to take place in North London, and an Italian touring performance of La traviata in Croydon's Fairfield Hall.

March

Catherine Savory as Berta, Christine Rice as Rosina, and Toby Spence as Almaviva in Il barbiere at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

March has been the most promising month of this year so far in the British capital, with an uncommonly large selection of rarities among an equally impressive selection of more conventional repertoire.

English National Opera this month revived two of its strongest productions, neither of which has been attracting its deserved audiences. First came Il trittico, far more strongly cast than its original run in 1998. Real-life husband and wife Peter Coleman-Wright and Cheryl Barker (along with tenor Bonaventura Bottone) delivered a Tabarro to remember, though it paled into significance when Barker returned as Suor Angelica. She surpassed herself, though her supporting cast was of mixed talents; Anne-Marie Owens, who also sang Tabarro's Frugola and Gianni Schicchi's Zita, was far more at home in these roles than as the Zia Principessa. Schicchi was another highlight, with Andrew Shore reprising his title role and Mary Plazas scoring a personal success as Lauretta.

Anne-Marie Owens (Zita), Julia Melinek (Nella), Andrew Shore (Gianni Schicchi), John Graham-Hall (Gherardo), Catherine Savory (La Ciesca) in Gianni Schicchi at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

Later in the month the company brought back a public favourite Il barbiere di Siviglia ; this time, the reason for the small audiences was that 'people's soprano' Lesley Garrett will take over the role of Rosina later in the season, no doubt pulling the crowds and filling the house every night. But Christine Rice, at last singing a large role in a major opera, bewitched the first-night audience and the critics, along with her Almaviva, Toby Spence, and her Figaro, Christopher Maltman (on the first night overcoming the final stages of flu). Perhaps the biggest hit of the evening was Gordon Sandison as Dr. Bartolo; although past his prime and no longer musically agile, his comic portrayal earned a warm reception from the audience.

Christine Rice as Rosina in Il barbiere at the ENO

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

An above-average month at ENO was paired with a quiet period at the Royal Opera House. In addition to the tail end of the Turandot revival came the first Henze opera to be heard in this house, Boulevard Solitude - the composer's interpretation of the Manon Lescaut story. Though a lot of money had clearly been spent on Nikolaus Lehnhoff's production, the result was strangely soulless and failed to pull big crowds. Partly, of course, it was simply a matter of modern German opera not being to everybody's taste. Fortunately the company is about to embark on two operas which should prove more successful; I Capuleti ed i Montecchi at the start of April, followed later in the month by a new production of Otello starring Jose Cura and Amanda Roocroft.

In addition to the major houses, the fringe venues and conservatoires had plenty to offer. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama presented two operas; firstly, an imaginative staging of Rimsky-Korsakov's Snegurochka as the School's regular termly production, later, Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea as the culmination of an Early Opera Project. Meanwhile, one of the School's most promising recent protégées, soprano Sally Matthews, turned up as a sensational Elisa in the Classical Opera Company's production of Mozart's Il re pastore at the Linbury Studio Theatre. And University College London's pioneering opera company - employing professional soloists alongside a mainly untrained student chorus - gave the British premiere of Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen's 1992 opera Kullervo.

I have already mentioned the Royal Opera's plans for April. Although a quiet month (spanning the Easter period) ENO has two major new productions in the pipeline. First on the menu is Il trovatore, the last dual appearance in the foreseeable future of soprano Sandra Ford and tenor Julian Gavin, one of the company's most successful pairings. Later in the month comes the world premiere of David Sawer's commission, From Morning to Midnight. The company has also just announced its next season. Highlights of an exciting selection include new productions of War and Peace, Lulu, The Rake's Progress and Un ballo in maschera, while the revivals offer some first-class opportunities to the company's principal artists in the form of Sandra Ford's first ENO Butterfly and Sarah Connolly's first Ariodante with the company.

Also imminent are London Royal Schools Opera's production of Flavio, in conjunction with the London Handel Festival; a performance of Carvalho's L'amore industrioso; Pegasus Opera's Carmen; and the annual Kathleen Ferrier Awards, perhaps the most prestigious competition for young British singers.

April

Jose Cura as Otello at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Photo by Bill Cooper/PAL

Easter in London has a tendency to be almost as dull, from an operatic perspective, as Christmas, but this year looked more promising. Although all the Royal Opera had to offer were two revivals, the casting looked strong enough to recommend them; and ENO launched into April with two major new productions.

After Jose Cura's concert performance of Otello two years ago at the Barbican, there was a certain excitement amongst London audiences at the prospect of his singing the role on stage at Covent Garden. The return of the Elijah Moshinsky production had its problems - it was strangely unatmospheric at the beginning - but Daniele Gatti conducted so well that it was only a matter of time before things got very exciting. Gatti's main strength was in the importance he placed on the rests, pauses and other silences in the score, which kept the audience on the edge of its collective seat. Cura had a strong fellow cast in Amanda Roocroft (Desdemona) and especially Alexandru Agache (Iago), both of whom benefited immensely from Gatti's style.

Jose Cura as Otello, with Alexandru Agache as Iago (above), and Amanda Roocroft as Desdemona (below), at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Photos by Bill Cooper/PAL

Also returning to the Royal Opera House was Pier Luigi Pizzi's 1984 production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Because it's Verdi year, the bicentenary of Bellini's birth seems to have been virtually overlooked by many companies, but this revival of an uninteresting production was strongly sung by a cast of Covent Garden favourites including Sonia Ganassi (Romeo), Elena Kelessidi (Giulietta) and Tito Beltran (Tebaldo).

Elena Kelessidi as Giulietta and Sonia Ganassi as Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Phots by Clive Garda/PAL

The first of the English National Opera productions to appear was the company's principal contribution to the Verdi centenary celebrations, being its only new production of a Verdi opera to open in 2001. The new Il trovatore took risks - staged by Nicholas Payne, the company's General Manager, and Paul Daniel, its Musical Director, and cast largely from company strength, it was a potential house triumph. But alas, it all went hopelessly wrong. The combination of the inexperienced production team and the woeful miscasting of at least two, some would say three or four, of the five principals, led to a tedious evening at the Coliseum on the first night.

The amateurish production was populated by some of ENO's brightest talent, but David Kempster, at 32, is far too young to be attempting a role like di Luna. Likewise, Sandra Ford - an exceptional Mimi and (I'm told) Violetta - does not have the requisite vocal size or expansion for Leonora, and her famous chemistry with tenor Julian Gavin (Manrico) was strangely absent. Gavin lacked his usual confidence, and Sally Burgess sounded distinctly past her best as Azucena. Only Clive Bayley, as Ferrando, sounded like he was really up to his role. What a shame his only significant appearance was over by the end of the first scene.

The sets looked as though they are made of poster-painted cardboard, and many of the costumes were just plain silly. Paul Daniel (conducting as well as directing) carried the score along with a crash-bang gusto which only really benefited the male chorus. I think the lesson for certain people to learn from this is - don't give up the day job!

Sally Burgess as Azucena in Act 3 of Il trovatore at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty

The second ENO production of the month was David Sawer's new commission for the house, From Morning to Midnight, which at the time of writing I have not yet seen. It is the first of two commissions to be premiered at the Coliseum this season - the second, Martin Butler's A Better Place, is coming along to end the season in July.

May sees more Verdi at ENO - a revival this time, of Falstaff, with Andrew Shore returning to the house after his triumphant Gianni Schicchi to sing the title role. Then at the end of the month, Calixto Bieito's long-awaited new production of Don Giovanni opens with an excellent cast. The Royal Opera sees further performances of La traviata, returning from its winter run with a new cast, along with Pikovaya dama and Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Opera North makes a rare visit to London, with performances of Shostakovich's operetta Cheryomushki at Sadler's Wells, while the Bellini bicentenary is commemorated by Chelsea Opera Group in their concert performance of Il pirata at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where earlier in the month the National Opera Studio will hold its annual showcase.

May

More than just singing: Claire Rutter as Donna Anna and Garry Magee as Don Giovanni in Calixto Bieito' s new production of Don Giovanni at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty

Francesca Zambello's new staging of Pikovaya dama (The Queen of Spades/Pique Dame) at Covent Garden this month provided a backdrop for some of the finest singing I have ever had the privilege to hear. Attracting the most attention - possibly because he was less of a known quantity than the rest of the cast, his only previous appearance with the Royal Opera having been in the third cast of Tosca earlier this season - was the production's Ghermann, the tenor Vladimir Galouzine, whose bronzed, baritonal timbre belied his ability to issue fabulously dramatic top notes. Karita Mattila returned to the house after a too-long absence to sing a radiant Lisa, while at the same time managing to get across the character's edgy neurosis. Two outstanding Russians took the baritone roles, with Nicolai Putilin as a commanding Tomsky and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as a beautifully lyrical Yeletsky. Dame Josephine Barstow held audience attention as the old Countess. But tragically this great experience was overshadowed by the death of the soprano Jenny Grahn, who had been singing the comprimario role of Prilepa, and who took her own life only hours after the penultimate performance.

Karita Mattila as Lisa, with Josephine Barstow as the Countess (left), and Vladimir Galouzine as Ghermann (right), in Pikovaya dama at Covent Garden

Though the revival of Elijah Moshinsky's 1987 staging of Die Entführung aus dem Serail satisfied its first-night audience on 30th May, I couldn't help feeling there was something missing. Christine Schäfer's Konstanze was fragile, lyrical and supremely feminine, but having now heard her in three major roles I still have great difficulty in warming to her. Kurt Streit's Belmonte, too, was ardent and attractively aristocratic, but seemed at his best in the dialogue; his arias seemed oversung, and his phrases a little shapeless. Peter Bronder was an endearing Pedrillo, but it was Kurt Rydl's Osmin and Caroline Stein's feisty Blonde which captured the audience's attention, and which got the most enthusiastic reception at the curtain call. Sir Charles Mackerras conducted with a light touch; never hurried or dragging.

Garry Magee as Don Giovanni, with Nathan Berg as Leporello (left), and Linda Richardson as Zerlina (right), in Don Giovanni at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty

Mozart was also on offer down the road at the Coliseum, with Calixto Bieito' s new production of Don Giovanni causing a great stir amongst the critics for all the wrong reasons. Bieito's vision of the opera's world is contemporary and entirely amoral, and attracted boos from its first-night audience for its depiction of casual sex, violence and drug abuse. Prior to opening night, Bieito had declared his intention to bring the piece to life for a modern audience, without any real regard for the 'myth of Don Giovanni' - but to create a world where all the men are violent junkies and all the women are nymphomaniacs is to take a very cynical, some would say insulting, view of contemporary life. Coupled with Joseph Swenson's breakneck-speed conducting, even the fine and committed cast could not raise critical opinion of the new staging.

John Daszak as the Cashier, with Linda Kitchen as the girl (below), in From Morning to Midnight at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty

Two other shows at the Coliseum were undeservedly neglected by audiences. ENO's new commission, David Sawer's From Morning to Midnight, actually opened at the end of April, though too late to make it into that month's letter. It proved a witty, well-constructed piece, lyrically scored, about a bank cashier who gives up everything one day when he impulsively absconds with a large sum of money and thus steps into a dizzying spiral of self-destruction. The cashier (sung here by John Daszak) is the only large role; most of the other characters were delightfully-observed cameos by a multifunctional cast. Later in the month came the return of Matthew Warchus's production of Falstaff, possibly the best thing seen so far this season in the house. The cast was led by Andrew Shore and Yvonne Kenny, with outstanding support from many of ENO's regulars, but the production's biggest advantage undoubtedly lies in Laura Hopkins's original and often magical stage designs.

Londoners had a rare chance this month to hear the opera students of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, in a concert at St. John's, Smith Square. Though the overall standard of performance did not seem as high as that of London's top opera schools, there were some outstanding individual performances - most notably from the sopranos Lisa Carlioth and Sophie Graf.

In June, as the main season nears its close, one of ENO's most highly-acclaimed productions returns to the Coliseum - Stefanos Lazaridis's staging of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - along with a new staging of The Rape of Lucretia, a co-production with the Aldeburgh Festival. The Royal Opera end the season with two concert performances of Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck's, that is - Haydn's will be staged amid great excitement in the autumn, providing Cecilia Bartoli with her house debut) and a solo recital by star soprano Angela Gheorghiu. The annual season at Holland Park is also imminent, starting with productions of Carmen and Die lustige Witwe. The summer productions at the city's two main opera schools could hardly be more different - the Guildhall has opted to stage a new commission, Andrew Schultz's Going into Shadows, while Sir Colin Davis will conduct the London Royal Schools Opera in their production of Don Giovanni. For Handel fans, the English Concert brings Jonathan Miller's production of Tamerlano to Sadler's Wells.

June

Robert Brubaker as Sergey and Vivian Tierney as Katerina in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the English National Opera

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

English National Opera, whose season ends next week, has come up trumps with its revival of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. The large cast is perfectly chosen; Vivian Tierney is both seductive and emotionally desperate as Katerina, Robert Brubaker blasts out lovely streams of romantic tenor caddishness as Sergey, and Pavlo Hunka is perfection as Boris, thoroughly deserving his fate. Smaller roles are also strongly cast, especially the women - the Royal Opera's excellent Leah-Marian Jones pays a rare visit to the house to sing a catty Sonyetka, and as Aksinya, Meryl Richardson's return to the company is welcome (following her unscheduled 1999 house debut as Musetta). John Graham-Hall's cameo as the Shabby Peasant is a joy. David Pountney's production features a set design by Stefanos Lazaridis, and bears the trademarks of both men's work. The staging originated in 1984 during the company's (in)famous 'Powerhouse' era, and fully deserves its longevity. It is a production which capitalises on ENO's formidable ensemble, and uses the entire length, breadth and height of the big Coliseum stage. The massive episodes of sound-drama are heightened by the occasional appearance of an on-stage brass band (perhaps the theatre's management is trying to hasten the renovation work by actually blasting the roof off.) and I've seen few things in this house to equal the moment when the scarlet-clad police force gatecrash the wedding by bursting through the walls. Terrific stuff.

Sarah Connolly in the title role of the Rape of Lucretia

Photo by Bill Rafferty /ENO

A further indication of what this company can achieve was on view at the Aldeburgh Festival early in the month, before transferring to the Coliseum. The two venues collaborated in David McVicar's new production of The Rape of Lucretia, which was broadcast on BBC television prior to its London transfer. The sultry airlessness of the theatre on the evening I saw it certainly had a beneficial effect on the atmosphere of the drama, though I'm not sure if it can have been much fun for the singers. The cast was outstanding - as the eponymous victim, Sarah Connolly displayed her usual blend of intensity and quiet control, while Christopher Maltman brought an edgy sense of danger to Tarquinius. Orla Boylan's dramatic lyricism brought out the humanity of the Female Chorus, while as the Male Chorus, John Mark Ainsley's voice is perhaps a size too small for the house. After all, the Coliseum is London's largest theatre, and far from ideal for chamber opera. One feels he would have come across better at Aldeburgh. In the smaller roles, Catherine Wyn-Rogers was all wit and wisdom as Bianca, Clive Bayley was a memorable Collatinus, and ENO Young Singers Leigh Melrose (Junius) and Mary Nelson (Lucia) both made their mark - both are artists who know how to use the words, and rarely fail to make an impression.

The Royal Opera season is long finished. It closed earlier in June with two somewhat subdued concert performances of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. David Daniels was the big attraction as Orfeo, but he brought little warmth to the character. Susan Gritton, on the other hand, sang a ravishing Euridice, and treble Tristan Hambleton showed outstanding musical instincts as Amor.

The semi-open-air theatre at Holland Park is back in business for its usual summer period. This year's season is disappointing in its lack of variety. In recent years the theatre has offered such rarities as Mascagni's Iris, Menotti's The Consul and Carvalho's L'amore industrioso alongside the repertoire standards of which this year's programme consists entirely. The opener, in mid-June, was Carmen, updated to the 1950s or thereabouts, and given an exuberant performance by a youthful cast. The decision to perform the music in French and the dialogue in English took some getting used to, and the translation was not always strong enough to warrant it; additionally, the venue's newly-acquired surtitle screen proves completely useless for outdoor performances on light summer evenings, and the titles are completely invisible until twilight begins to fall at around nine o' clock. The principal attraction of this venue, however, is its atmosphere - its civilised and upmarket air makes it popular with the wealthy locals, while the prospect of a pleasant evening in the park attracts those from further afield. The season continued in the final week of June with Die lustige Witwe, while July will bring Manon Lescaut, La traviata and Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Scottish Opera: Ines de Castro with Helen Field in the title role and Jon Garrison as Pedro (left), Il trovatore with Svetelina Vassileva as Leonora and John Hudson as Manrico (right)

Photos: Bill Cooper

In mid-June I took a rare trip away from London to see two performances by one of my favourite companies, Scottish Opera in Edinburgh. The first opera was a revival of James Macmillan's 1999 commission for the company, Ines de Castro. The piece is based fairly faithfully on historical events, and is successful because it capitalises on tried and tested musical and dramatic ideas which made classics of so many of the operas in the standard repertoire, while bringing a modern twist to the historical subject matter. Most of the cast were repeating the roles they created two years ago, and Helen Field's assumption of the title role was a performance to remember.

The following evening's performance was Il trovatore, in a production which I saw in its previous revival in 1996. I remember very little about that first time, and fortunately this year's cast made more of an impression. Dark-toned soprano Svetelina Vassileva was impressive in her dynamic control and made a stunning-looking Leonora, and she had a similarly accomplished, lyrical and full-throated Manrico in the English tenor John Hudson - both were deprived of their interpolated high notes by the insistence of company Music Director, Richard Armstrong, that the score should be performed as written. These two excellent singers do have a built-in drawback, in that neither possesses the histrionic skills necessary to bring their scenes to life. Richard Zeller and Michael Druiett brought a similar balance of talents to the roles of di Luna and Ferrando respectively, and only Anne-Marie Owens - whose Azucena was returning from the previous revival - delivered a fully rounded performance. In the pit, Stephen Clarke did his best to keep momentum high - sometimes conducting excessively fast - but his efforts were hampered by the long breaks between scenes while the vast grey walls of the set were rearranged.

At the close of the main London season, it's worth reflecting on its successes and failures. ENO was much talked about in the autumn due to its Italian Opera Season, which transformed the Coliseum for three months and provided the background for eight new productions. The company's early and mid season was populated by a stream of hits - Nabucco, Das Rheingold, Il trittico and Falstaff to name the best - but regrettably let the side down late in the season with the new productions of Il trovatore and Don Giovanni. Fortunately, June's revival of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk restored morale within the company and amongst its regular audience. At Covent Garden, the start of the operatic year screamed conventionality, with revival after revival of the company's 'classic' productions, but the season 's first new production, of Tristan und Isolde, was a passionless flop, saved only by the conducting of Bernard Haitink. After Christmas, a revival of Pfitzner's Palestrina showed the company back on top form. Francesca Zambello's new production of Pikovaya dama did not appeal to everybody, but the singing was undeniably brilliant - Vladimir Galouzine, Karita Mattila, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nicolai Putilin led the strongest line-up of singers to be heard in the capital all season.

The strongest rival to this, in terms of sheer excellence of performance, came in the form of the climax of the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz Odyssey series under Sir Colin Davis. December's three double concerts of Les troyens at the Barbican Hall proved the ultimate in epic performances. The event was recorded for posterity, and its release on the LSO's own label is imminent.

But let's not discount the summer period. Like last year, the Royal Opera House is taking advantage of its resident companies' annual break to host a short season by the Kirov Opera. (Also visiting are the Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and La Scala Ballet.) Whereas last year the Kirov brought a much-needed all-Russian programme to London, this year the company is jumping on the Verdi bandwagon to stage six of his operas in less than two weeks. The fortnight opens with Un ballo in maschera, followed by Macbeth, Aida, La forza del destino, Otello and Don Carlos, and Gergiev will conduct a performance of the Requiem. All this leaves plenty to be desired - the externally-promoted, unsubsidised tour results in some seats costing three times their normal price, and surely one or two of Verdi's lesser-known works would not have been too much to ask? Still, it promises to be an exciting couple of weeks, with Vladimir Galouzine's Otello being the potential highlight.

Elsewhere over the summer, the Proms are a bit light on opera this year. As keen as this concert series is to observe composers' anniversaries, there is not a single complete Verdi opera on offer. The composer is represented only by his Requiem and Quattro Pezzi Sacri (later in the summer) and by a gala-style concert featuring scenes from Il trovatore, Don Carlos and Aida.

July

David McVicar's new production of Macbeth for the Kirov Opera at Covent Garden (top and bottom)

The visit of the Kirov Opera to the Royal Opera House was, like last year, July's big event, but there were some important differences. Early rumours suggested that along with some Verdi operas, the company would be performing some Russian rarities, including The gambler and The invisible city of Kitezh. There was a great deal of excitement among London audiences, who remember only too well the company's fantastic all-Russian programme in summer 2000.

Disillusionment began, for some, when the season brochure arrived in the post. Not only was the programme to be all-Verdi (six operas and the Requiem, all within two weeks) but the residency was being managed by promoter Victor Hochhauser and was essentially outside the jurisdiction of the Royal Opera House. Verdi fans like myself remained excited at the choice of repertoire, but were dismayed at Hochhauser's ticket-pricing scheme. Not only were the tickets more expensive than usual - some of the low-priced seats going at up to four times their usual value - but the seating plan was the one used prior to the 2000/01 season, which failed to take into account the relative sightlines and acoustics in the pricing of some seating areas, and there was no reserve of tickets for sale to those not entitled to priority booking. But several months in advance, nearly all the performances were already sold out.

So when I arrived at my first opera of the fortnight - the second of two performances of Un ballo in maschera - I was dismayed to hear the Kirov's usually excellent chorus sounding strained and off-pitch. And when tenor Ivan Morimov began to sing, the feeling in the audience turned to one of disbelief. Morimov had been scheduled to share the role with Yuri Alexeev, but had ended up singing both performances, which were on successive evenings. It transpired that he had also been suffering from flu, but an announcement had only been made on the first night. Over the course of the fortnight it became increasingly clear that the performers were being kept under an entirely unfair amount of pressure. Dress rehearsals would take place hours before the performance. The chorus and orchestra were working from morning until night for six days at a time, and the principals were no less overworked. In an eight-day period I heard Irina Gordei as Amelia (Ballo), Lady Macbeth, Leonora (Forza) and Aida.

Returning to Ballo, it was fortunate that the company had an artist of Larissa Diadkova's calibre in the role of Ulrica, because without her the opera would simply not have been worth listening to. Even she was unable to do anything to make it worth watching - the first two acts were set, inexplicably, in some kind of ruined dockyard, while the final scene was set in a cardboard-looking ballroom which opened out of the wall of the previous scene, spilling giant Easter eggs all over the stage. Later, snow began to fall from the ceiling (!) and Morimov made Riccardo's death scene completely laughable. Besides Diadkova, the only singer who was worth hearing was Vassily Gerello as Renato, though he lacked the vocal "bite" which would have made his aria into a much-needed boost to the show. Irina Gordei, in a dreadful blonde wig, has a large voice but does not quite know how to contain it; her tone on this occasion was often thick, ungainly and vibrato-laden, and while her pianissimo singing is very pleasant, her technique is not good enough to enable such phrases to blend seamlessly back into a crescendo. Svetlana Trifonova sang Oscar without legato, and, indeed, without much charm, stalking around the stage in what she must have thought (or been told to think) was a 'pageboy' pose. Altogether it was a performance which could only be described as provincial, and not even good provincial at that.

Regrettably, the rest of the fortnight was to continue in a similar vein, though matters improved with David McVicar's new production of Macbeth. Here, at least, was a production without meaningless ideas - in fact, its dark minimalism captured the spirit of the piece extremely well, and Edem Umerov was very creditable as the eponymous thane. Nonetheless, vocal mediocrity was once again in evidence elsewhere. Gordei seemed incapable of singing softly, and Yuri Alexeev's Macduff was weak.

The Kirov Aida at Covent Garden (top and bottom)

I saw both performances of Aida; the selling-point of both was clearly intended to be the casting of Amneris, with Diadkova scheduled for the first and Olga Borodina for the second. The former, as in Ballo, brought a much-needed injection of world-class ability to the piece; the latter cancelled due to illness, and was replaced by Olga Savova. Olga Sergeeva and Irina Gordei shared the title role; neither Victor Lutsiuk nor Gegam Grigorian was impressive as Radames. The production was ultra-traditional and extremely dull.

La forza del destino was another eminently forgettable experience; the piece was performed in its original version, which among other things, differs substantially from the better-known revised version in its organisation of the third act. Gordei's Leonora made a strong start but weakened as the evening wore on; she appeared to have forgotten basic details of 'Pace, pace'. Gegam Grigorian was a loud, unromantic Alvaro, and Nicolai Putilin failed to distinguish himself as Don Carlo. Valery Gergiev was having a night off, leaving the baton in the less charismatic hands of Gianandrea Noseda. Only the Preziosilla of the brilliant young mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk made the evening anything approaching worthwhile. Otello was easily the best-sung of the six operas, and though Vladimir Galouzine has no acting skills worth mentioning, his bronzed timbre gave him heroic credibility in the title role. At the performance I saw, Desdemona was enchantingly sung by Olga Guriakova, and Putilin was a strong-voiced Iago - unfortunately he seemed determined to play the role as a camp pantomime villain, chuckling evilly at every opportunity. The production was strange and incoherent - giant pieces of armour littered the stage, and Desdemona's bedroom was a giant staircase.

I missed the Requiem concert as I was away from London overnight, but I returned in time to see the final opera - Don Carlo. Olga Borodina had been booked to sing Eboli in the first of the two performances, but her illness once again prevented her from taking part. Happily, she made an unexpected appearance in the second performance, the surprisingly good cast of which also included Irina Djoeva (Elisabetta), Vladimir Moroz (Posa) and Sergei Alexashkin (Filippo II). Ironically, the one really weak link was Don Carlo himself - Victor Lutsiuk.

With the exception of Forza, Valery Gergiev conducted every performance, and scored several successes in the pit at least. Without his leadership, presumably the overall quality of the performances would have plummeted even further. Strangely, the audience never booed - but applause was muted and always threatened to die away before the curtain calls were over. All in all it was an experience I would not wish to repeat - certainly not at those prices.

Rebecca de Pont Davies as Suzanne in the premiere of Martin Butler's A Better Place at the English National Opera

Photo: Bill Rafferty

English National Opera's season ended with the premiere of Martin Butler's one-acter, A Better Place. The piece is set beside the Thames and the music evokes the sounds and atmosphere of the river - but the libretto is not memorable or coherent enough to make a lasting impression. The company would have been better off ending the season with a performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which had had its last roof-raising performance two days previously.

So it was elsewhere that good, memorable opera was to be found - at Holland Park, in fact. Though the season eventually drew to a close with a disappointingly amateurish production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, this was preceded by interesting stagings of Manon Lescaut and La traviata, which provided showcase opportunities for some thrilling young sopranos. In the title role of Manon Lescaut, which she shared with Catherine Mikic, was the up-and-coming dramatic soprano Susan Stacey, enhancing her reputation. In Traviata, the gorgeous voice and masterful characterisation of a pretty young Frenchwoman, Anne-Sophie Duprels, made for an emotionally harrowing evening's entertainment. Fabulous.

Coming up at the Proms in August is a semi-staged version of Glyndebourne Festival Opera's production of Fidelio, and a concert performance of Bluebeard's Castle (A kékszakállú herceg vára).

September

David McVicar's production of Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House with Paolo Gavanelli as Rigoletto, Christine Schaefer as Gilda, Graciela Araya as Maddalena and Marcelo Alvarez as the Duke

Though the summer break this year seemed endless, the new season is now well and truly underway. It is still very much Verdi year, and at the Royal Opera House, the season opener was David McVicar's production of Rigoletto. The young Scottish director was making his debut with the company, though he was partnered by one of the most experienced Verdi conductors of our time, Sir Edward Downes. The first night was transmitted live to an outdoor audience in the Covent Garden Piazza, and the second was relayed live on national television. Thus I may report on a production which I will not see live until next week, while reserving judgement on voice size, overall impact of the staging and so on.

I have long considered that the average staging of Rigoletto is too restrained, too euphemistic - and I'm clearly not the only one who thinks that way. McVicar interprets the opening party scene as a particularly sordid orgy, with scantily-clad women displaying themselves to the lascivious men of the court, and Monterone's daughter stripped naked and openly raped. This elicited some comments from the purists, but I thought it was effective, my only reservation being that the rowdiness at the very start made the music almost inaudible. The opera continued in a similar vein - the courtiers were surprised but not ashamed upon discovering Gilda's true identity, and the Duke pleasured himself with Maddalena during the last-act quartet. The staging was made doubly convincing by some careful casting, with Paolo Gavanelli giving a compelling account of the title role. I was dubious about the casting of German coloratura soprano Christine Schaefer as Gilda, but I need not have worried - this naïve, winsome girl was believable prey for Marcelo Alvarez's shameless Duke. Alvarez, incidentally, offered some of the best Verdi tenor singing to be heard since the house reopened two years ago.

Paolo Gavanelli as Rigoletto and Christine Schaefer as Gilda at the Royal Opera House

I will also not see Olivier Tambosi's new Covent Garden staging of Jenufa for myself until the end of the run, but the signs are excellent. Just when everybody was already looking forward to hearing Karita Mattila in the title role, a sensational piece of news broke - Anja Silja was to replace Deborah Polaski in the role of Kostelnicka. Londoners who attended the first night are now unequivocally raving about it. Look out for my report next month.

So far, the new season at English National Opera has consisted entirely of revivals. I shall start by mentioning the least successful - the return of Stephen Pimlott's production of La bohème, a staging which, in the right hands, is one of the company's finest trump cards. Unfortunately, this revival is populated by a young and inexperienced house cast, and shoddily directed by Michael Walling. The vibrant energy and sizzling sexual chemistry of last time are virtually absent, and even Jeremy Sams's fine translation goes for very little. Rhys Meirion's Rodolfo is ineffectual and devoid of top notes, while Linda Richardson is a shrill and over-histrionic Mimi. Alycia Fashae is overparted as Musetta, and David Kempster's Marcello lack the authority which his Schaunard (in the previous revival) had in abundance. Conductor Michael Lloyd was one of the weaker links last time around, and it is hardly surprising that he is unable to breathe life into this extremely disappointing revival. I suspect that the cast changes later in the season may give the show the boost it so badly needs, but until then I will not be returning.

A great deal more success was had with the season opener, Jonathan Miller's 1996 production of La traviata, cast from company strength. Heading the cast was the soprano Sandra Ford, in one of her finest roles. Admittedly her diction can be idiosyncratic and her voice does not possess the subtlety boasted by one or two of her contemporaries, but as a package, she lacks little. The Violetta of this tiny, fragile-looking singer is committed, heartfelt and desperate, and her acting ability really comes into its own in the last act (which Miller, as a doctor of medicine, knows exactly how to stage). She is partnered by the adoring Alfredo of John Hudson, in fabulous voice, and the Germont of Ashley Holland, in reality a good few years younger than either of his two co-stars, who at times came close to stealing the show. Noel Davies's tempi were occasionally on the fast side, and some of the words were lost, but this Traviata was unquestionably a success.

Another success was Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in its 1997 production by Martha Clarke. Many people stayed away from the opening night on 11th September, amid the breaking news of the terrorist attacks in the USA, but the evening was of a quality which I hope was repeated at subsequent performances for all to see. Star mezzo Alice Coote gave an anguished reading of Orfeo, alongside Helen Williams's Euridice and Jeni Bern's Amor - Harry Christophers conducted.

During October some of the season's most exciting events will take place. Top of the list is the London stage debut of Cecilia Bartoli, in Haydn's L' anima del filosofo at the Royal Opera House, while at the Coliseum, ENO unveils Tim Albery's new production of Prokofiev's epic War and Peace.

Also opening at the Royal Opera House during October is a revival of Die Frau ohne Schatten. Meanwhile, Welsh National Opera will follow in the footsteps of Opera North by paying a visit to Sadlers Wells with Beethoven's Leonore and Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict. At the Barbican, the first opera performance to make use of the concert hall's new (and hopefully improved) acoustics will be a concert of Britten's Albert Herring by City of London Sinfonia. And the Linbury Studio Theatre plays host to Pimlico Opera for two performances of Cosi fan tutte, in the production by soprano Janis Kelly which started life at Grange Park this summer.

October

L'anima del filosofo at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Cecilia Bartoli as Euridice, and Roberto Sacca as Orfeo

At the Royal Opera House, the month of October has been packed with treats. First up was Jenufa, which opened in late September - I was finally able to see it on 16th October. The withdrawal of Deborah Polaski from the role of Kostelnicka facilitated the return of a highly-esteemed interpreter of the role, the soprano Anja Silja. Her pairing with the exceptional Karita Mattila in the title role was the Royal Opera's biggest coup in some time, and a third big name, Eva Randova, provided luxury casting in the role of Grandma Buryovka. Together with tenors Jerry Hadley and Jorma Silvasti, Olivier Tambosi's rather uninspiring production (an import from Hamburg) came vividly to life in a performance conducted by company maestro Bernard Haitink.

John Cox's 1992 production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, with fantastical set designs by David Hockney, was also resurrected this month on the Covent Garden stage; Deborah Voigt provided a beautifully-sung account of the Empress, and Gabriele Schnaut's strident, biting tone proved well-suited to the role of the Dyer's Wife. Johan Botha and Glenn Winslade shared the role of the Emperor, and Alan Titus was a strong Barak. Jane Henschel, returning to the role of the Nurse, provided some thrilling singing, but at the performance I saw, the biggest asset was the orchestra in the care of Christoph von Dohnanyi. The evening, which was a long one, seemed anything but.

Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Royal Opera House: Alan Titus and Gabriele Schnaut as Barak and his wife (left), Deborah Voigt as the empress and Jane Henschel as the nurse (right)

On 15 October came one of the most talked-about events of London's operatic year - the stage debut at Covent Garden of star mezzo Cecilia Bartoli. She appeared as Euridice in the Haydn rarity L'anima del filosofo, alongside Roberto Sacca and Gerald Finley. The piece proved to be a curiosity at best, not helped much by Jurgen Flimm's production. Of course it was sold out, at inflated prices, but I've never been a great fan of Bartoli's machine-gun coloratura and I found the performance did very little for me. Christopher Hogwood conducted.

Still awaiting my attention is Tim Albery's long-awaited new production of War and Peace at the Coliseum. My November letter will contain a full report. Also at English National Opera, the woefully flagging revival of Stephen Pimlott's brilliant production of La bohème has been injected with the tonic it so badly needed. As I had predicted, the combined performances of tenor Julian Gavin and soprano Sandra Ford (who headed the cast of the 1999 revival) finally allowed the opera to realize its potential.

Welsh National Opera paid a rare visit to the English capital this month, with two productions at Sadlers Wells. The first was Leonore, the first version of the piece which later morphed into Fidelio. Frankly, it isn't difficult to see why Beethoven changed so much of it; though much of the music is the same as in the final version, many of the opera's finest moments did not appear until later. The final section of Florestan's aria, for example, is in this version extremely run-of-the-mill, and the final chorus, though recognizable, is devoid of any musical variety or life.

Much of this might have been forgiven had an outstanding cast been on offer, but this was not generally the case. Franzita Whelan was a wayward Leonore, and Donald McIntyre a tired-sounding Rocco. The normally mighty Robert Hayward seemed strangely underpowered as Pizarro, and I did not warm to Pär Lindskog's Florestan.