Luisa Spinatelli… taking tasteful to a higher dimension The Amici della Scala (Friends of La Scala), run by the indefatigable Anna Crespi, gathered together at the association’s spectacular headquarters, a short walk from La Scala, to celebrate one of Italy’s most important theatre designers. Luisa Spinatelli is one of a tight-knit core of Milanese artists, […]
Così fan tutte
In conversation with Luca Pisaroni: back to Milan with his La Scala debut
Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni will make his house debut at La Scala in 2017 as Leporello. It will be only the second opera he has sung in Italy. The performances of Don Giovanni are just before his 42nd birthday. Astonishing: a prophet is not without honour save in his own country. I grew up musically outside […]
Guildhall students take opera scenes to China
As part of the celebrations of the first Year of Cultural Exchange between China and Britain in 2015, students from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama début in Shanghai’s Grand Theatre on 3 April with Opera Scenes. The scenes, directed by Victoria Newlyn, herself a Guildhall alumna from the acting faculty, will be presented at the Barbican Theatre from […]
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo talks to the LA Times about hunkdom, acting, comedy and future roles
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is in the City of Angels appearing in “Così fan Tutte” at the Los Angeles Opera. The bass-baritone “projects a swaggering confidence and dangerous sex appeal” says the Los Angeles Times, acquiring “fans around the world as much for his voice as for his model looks”. He appears tall on stage because of […]
Video of L.A. Opera’s changeover from ‘Cosi’ to ‘Onegin’ in 4 1/2 hours (video only 4 minutes!)
Opera audiences are used to seeing performances awash in spectacle. But they rarely get to glimpse the magic that occurs between shows — namely, “the changeover,” when one production is taken down and another takes its place. “It’s like working a huge jigsaw puzzle,” says Rupert Hemmings, director of production at Los Angeles Opera. “It […]
