Billy Budd – Britten – Royal Opera House

It is incredible when in an all-male opera the keenest applause at curtain call is reserved for a lady – the female Director, Deborah Warner.  She directs a new production for the ROH, in conjunction with opera houses, both in Madrid and Rome, where this production has already premiered.   It is the ROH’s first new staging of this work since Zambello’s 1995 staging.  Warner is becoming a bit of a Britten specialist with her brilliant Death in Venice for ENO in memory, with others to follow suit.  Here she brings the 1797 timeframe up to the modern era, with costumes by Chloe Obolensky and sets by Michael Levine to match.  The abstract staging is based around moving platforms all surrounded by rigging, which at appropriate times move to produce varying levels on the stage, reflecting the different decks of the ship, HMS Indomitable. 

La forza del destino – Verdi – Royal Opera House

The starry eyed opening of Christof Loy’s new production of Verdi’s La forza del destino was triumphant with the world’s greatest singers in the title roles - Anna Netrebko as Leonora, Jonas Kaufman as Don Alvaro and Ludovic Tezier as Don Carlo.  This was casting as good as it gets and a really exciting evening was enjoyed by all that were present. 

Mirga Leads Tchaikovsky – LA Philharmonic – Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall

It was an unexpected privilege to witness the performance of the outstanding Moldovan Violinist, now in her early forties, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto under the baton of the Lithuanian Conductor, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.  They played together like a matching glove, always outstandingly in time and complete with their musical colour, but it was Kopatchinskaja’s night.