https://youtu.be/0COpMaHDYhM Based on the play by Tennesse Williams Directed by Nancy Meckler Choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa ★★★★★ A paradox occurs: the still frigid stone of Edinburgh collides with the steam and intensity of a New Orleans summer for the return of Scottish Ballet’s A Streetcar Named Desire, revitalised after eight years in slumber by a … Continue reading Scottish Ballet: A Streetcar Named Desire – Festival Theatre
https://youtu.be/wgzyPG68UFA Based on the work of William Shakespeare Musical Direction by Dominic Hill Conduction by Stuart Stratford ★★★★★ Shakespearean Opera – it’s a nightmare of a concoction, merging two gigantic forms of artistic expression, running the risk of overwrought emotion or needless complexity. More often than not, the scroll of failures outweighs the pleasant experiences. … Continue reading Scottish Opera: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Festival Theatre
https://youtu.be/BcS1Z1Uh4-s Directed by Stuart Maunder Conducted by Derek Clark and Jonathon Cole-Swinard ★★★★ With tremendous beliefs comes temptation, and when one of two happy-go-lucky Gondoliers is revealed to be the rightful inheritor of a distant kingdom, their Republican ideals are put to the test. Not for greed or glory, but to revolutionise the archaic rule … Continue reading The Gondoliers – Festival Theatre
Conducted by Dalia Stasevska Accompanied by The BBC Symphony Orchestra ★★★ After a two-year wait, here we are. Open to the elements of Scotland within one of three newly constructed Edinburgh International Festival venues, The Opening Concert is a merit of dedication, adoration, and the intimacy of live, in-person music and performance. Behind the revelry and fanfare, and beneath … Continue reading The Opening Concert – Edinburgh International Festival
https://youtu.be/Cd61xDR4a74 Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré Score by Charles Gounod ★★★★ Navigating the human condition, to the eventual judgements of heaven’s light and hell’s fire, Faust holds no prisoners in its sumptuously decadent retelling of the infamous man who sold his soul for wealth, power, and vitally in this iteration, a woman. The Royal Opera … Continue reading Faust – Royal Opera House
https://youtu.be/tu5CBJrEwnE Music: Giacomo Puccini Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica Director: Richard Jones ★★★ A painter, a scholar, a musician, and a poet convene in their ramshackle abode – late on rent, low on funds, but bountiful in spirit(s). Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème is one of the artform’s most regularly performed pieces, and a staple of Italian … Continue reading La bohème – The Royal Opera House
In the past sixty years, social media has become a dominant force as Great Britain has joined and then left the European Union, gone through twelve Prime Ministers and somehow, Allan Stewart’s career survives it all. Quite rightly, Stewart may host the Big Big Variety Show, we may be celebrating his sixty years in the business, … Continue reading Allan Stewart’s Big Big Variety Show – Festival Theatre
https://youtu.be/6jDurgnkqAI Opera by John Adams, Liberetto by Alice Goodman Directed by John Fulljames Gorbachev & Reegan, Putin & al Assad, Blair & Bush, Johnston & the highest bidder - throughout history, politicians have had their images emblazoned with that of another. None quite so unexpected as Richard Nixon and Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the Communist … Continue reading Nixon in China – Festival Theatre
https://youtu.be/dyQx7H4fXh8 Opera created by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa Revival Direction by Jonathan Cocker Leader of The Orchestra of Scottish Opera - Anthony Moffat Conducted by Stuart Stratford Puccini’s melodramatic masterpiece Tosca has it all; corruption, lust, heartbreak and the bureaucracy of history. Shifting the timeframe into the 20th century, there is still … Continue reading Tosca – The Festival Theatre
Piano & Conduction by Barrie Kosky Performed by Komische Oper Berlin When it comes to Yiddish culture, it’s true what they say – they made Hollywood. They built Broadway. There is not a composer or lyricist creating today in Western culture who was not, indirectly or otherwise, influenced in some way by Yiddish musicians, singers … Continue reading Forget Me Not – Royal Lyceum Theatre
