Gwyn Hughes News

Deftly balances psychological thrill with morality as murky as the North Sea

All new rehearsal photos have been released for the English National Opera's Peter Grimes  at the London Coliseum. Check out the photos here!

This September, opening the 2023/24 Season at the London Coliseum, the English National Opera (ENO) presents Benjamin Britten’s searing psychological drama, Peter Grimes. David Alden’s production returns for its second revival. Following its premiere in 2009, this production won a South Bank Sky Arts Award in the Opera category.  

Washington National Opera (WNO) opens its season with a new production of Il trovatore, October 22–November 7, 2022 in the Opera House. Verdi's tale of forbidden love, jealousy, and vengeance—last seen by WNO audiences in 2004—receives a newly conceived period production from director Brenna Corner, with sets by International Opera Award finalist Erhard Rom, and costumes by Tony Award winner Martin Pakledinaz.

The Royal Opera House today announces its 2022/23 Season, unveiling a rich range of new work, world premieres and beloved revivals. Over 40 productions, performed by an incredible roster of international stars and created in collaboration with global companies, will be accompanied by more than 200 events and activities in our stunning Covent Garden Home, and outreach programmes reaching more than 27,000 children across the UK. 

As General Director Timothy 2 O’Leary and Artistic Director Francesca Zambello announced today, the company’s 2022– 2023 season balances groundbreaking new work with audience favorites.

Opening the spring season is a new production of Un ballo in maschera, where love, power and politics collide to create a tale of deception, intrigue and revenge. The second instalment in WNO's Verdi trilogy, the production is directed by David Pountney, conducted by Gareth Jones and is a co-production with Oper der Stadt Bonn. Performing from 10 - 13 April, the company will also bring revivals of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Donizetti's Roberto Devereux.

Metropolitan Maestro Carlo Rizzi's 2018-19 season includes Tosca and Mefistofele at the Met, Falstaff in Tokyo, a new production of Un ballo in maschera at Welsh National Opera and symphonic concerts in Japan, Italy and Spain

Welsh National Opera presents a feast of Italian operas from three of the greatest composers for its Spring season in Bristol. The season, entitled Rabble Rousers, will feature a new production of Verdi's La forza del destino alongside revivals of Puccini's Tosca and Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Ireland's opera stars have held global audiences spellbound in recent years to create a golden age of Irish singing. Their artistry is set to propel Irish National Opera throughout its inaugural season and beyond. The bold new enterprise, to be launched with a gala concert at Dublin's National Concert Hall on 9 January 2018, trains the spotlight on world-class Irish singers, orchestras, conductors, directors, and creative teams. The company offers a striking blend of the energy of a modern start-up with the best of operatic tradition. Irish National Opera will present seven operas in its first year, five of them new productions, and tour to thirteen venues in Ireland and London's Barbican Centre.

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether West End epics or bold fringe offerings. From starry Sondheim to political plays and a new Florian Zeller, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews...

Ranking among today's leading conductors, Carlo Rizzi's vast repertoire ranges from the foundation works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities by Bellini, Cimarosa and Donizetti. He is in high demand as a guest artist at the world's most prestigious venues and festivals, not least for the insight and integrity of his musicianship and the visceral energy and psychological depths of his interpretations.

Is it possible that Kasper Holten, Covent Garden's outgoing director of opera, has directed a Meistersinger about himself? It certainly looks a lot like it. This black take on Wagner's sunniest and most humane opera finds doubts and uncertainties at every turn, closing not with a paean to national art but a cautionary tale about cultural insularity and convention.

Opera singer Tosca's love for artist Cavaradossi knows no compromise. But with Rome in turmoil, the personal becomes political. Sadistic police chief Scarpia wants Tosca for himself - and, to his manipulative mind, nothing could be easier than turning the very strength of her passion to his own advantage.

When Catherine Malfitano's Tosca debuted in 2010, English National Opera finally had a production of Puccini's classic to rival Jonathan Kent's long-serving version up the road at Covent Garden. Handsome, traditional, revivable - the show is everything it should be. But that extra friction that turns solid into spectacular is left entirely in the hands of the cast. With one role debut and one company debut among its principals, on paper this second revival was a bit of an unknown quantity. In practice it's an uneven affair, but the good is so very excellent that you'll forgive it much.

The English National Opera has announced its 2016/17 season, showcasing an extraordinary range of work -- from the return of beloved classics to exciting new productions and a world premiere.

Ana María Martínez will sing her first Met performances of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly on February 19 and 22, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill. Hong is scheduled to sing the performances on February 25, March 2 and 5, as previously announced.

Carlo Rizzi is ready to enter an exciting period of work in the New Year. The conductor's 2015/16 season continues in January with a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Matthew Ozawa's new production of Verdi's Nabucco. He heads to Milan the following month to begin rehearsals for Teatro alla Scala's eagerly awaited staging of Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe, an opera not seen at La Scala for eight decades. Rizzi's rich schedule also includes the world premiere of Iain Bell's In Parenthesis and the double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, staged to celebrate the 70th birthday of Welsh National Opera (WNO).

Roberto De Biasio and Gwyn Hughes Jones will sing Pinkerton in the initial performances of Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Met this spring, replacing Massimo Giordano, who has withdrawn due to illness. De Biasio will sing Pinkerton on February 19, 22, and 27, and Hughes Jones will sing the role on March 2 and 5.