Roberta Alexander

This summer, Guildhall School of Music & Drama presents a varied programme of events for the public to enjoy, including concerts, drama productions, opera and jazz.

Learn all about the winner - Gihoon Kim, 29, who rose to win the ultimate prize against a record-number of singers from across the globe who entered, with 16 singers from 14 countries selected to take part in the final rounds of the competition, broadcast across BBC TV and Radio this week.

Grammy-winning conductor Michael Christie will lead the Welsh National Opera Orchestra to accompany finalists in the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World main prize competition. Staged without an audience in strict compliance with the latest health and safety government guidelines related to COVID-19, the competition takes place from June 12 – June 19, 2021 at St. David's Hall in Cardiff.

The Met's new production of Richard Strauss's ELEKTRA is something to behold, with Vincent Huguet recreating the original by the late Patrice Chereau from France's Aix-en-Provence Festival. Starring the glorious Nina Stemme in the title role--and backed by the stellar performances of Waltraud Meier as Klytamnestra, Adrianne Pieczonka as Chrysothemis and Eric Owens as Orest--this is a cast that would be hard to better. Add to it conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen's insightful, propulsive performance with the great Met orchestra. And, yet, there was…something missing: catharsis--no burst of rapture and the urge to jump up and applaud.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, acclaimed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt decided to make a recording of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess as a gift to himself.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, acclaimed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt decided to make a recording of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess as a gift to himself.