Some of the most iconic operas have death prominently featured in the libretto, a move that is designed to heighten intensity and maximize tension. Illness, torture, murder, suicide — this is the ...

Last Thursday, I went to see the opera Tosca at the Astra Theatre in Gozo. Opera performances are now a permanent feature of the theatre calendar in Gozo, and their high standard draws the crowds of ...

Mears plays mostly by the Puccini/Giacosa/Illica rulebook of love and terror in totalitarian Rome - foolish the director who would throw the musically and ...

Opera lovers arriving at Covent Garden this week for the start of the new season were greeted by Ukrainian flags and scores of picketing protesters. “While she sings, Ukraine bleeds,” read the ...

Outrage over the casting of Anna Netrebko didn’t make it to the inside of the auditorium – where roars of approval greeted this high-stakes game of blood-spattered conflict directed by Oliver Mears ...

The new Tosca at Royal Opera marks the debut of Jakub Hrusa as music director but also the return of Anna Netrebko to the spotlight Anna Netrebko as Floria Tosco in Oliver Mears’ Tosca at Royal Opera ...

Oliver Mears’ new Tosca takes a serious new look at a familiar piece “This production includes depictions of executions, violence, blood, gore, murder, sexual assault, implied torture and suicide,” ...