Contents FRONT OF HOUSE EDITORIAL Identity and the arts. To what extent does artistic identity include our personal life? YOUNG ARTIST OF THE MONTH Meeting rising star soprano Alys Roberts ahead of the Spitalfields Music Festival - NEWS & NOTES Gustavo Dudamel leaves Paris, Royal Opera House announces a new guest conductor and we remember the late soprano, Kathryn Harries ‘We are setting an example of acceptance and inclusion, so far absent from other national Greek stages’ 16 REVIEWS - LIVE REVIEWS UK London World ’s Wife and Gay Tosca (36) EUROPE Bergen National Opera Rusalka (38); Malmö Opera Fallet Makropulos (40); City Focus Vienna (42) Athens (44) ASIA Tokyo (47) - RECORDINGS New releases on CD, Digital & AV including: Il proscritto – a new recording from Opera Rara, a disc of songs on themes of temptation from Benjamin Appl and Elgan Llŷr Thomas’s album of song showcasing queer and underrepresented composers. We review L’Angelica , Tosca and La Périchole captured on film; Opera Now Choice: James Newby and Joseph Middleton’s recording Fallen to Dust on BIS receives five stars - SPOTLIGHT Worldwide Opera Guide and answers to this issue’s Quiz (p63) COVER PHOTO: ANDREAS SIMOPOULOS www.operanow.co.uk SIMOPOULOS ANDREAS ISON MORR NOAH 27 22 G R A D E M E D I A CONTENTS Cover feature Greek National Opera has become a notable player in the international opera scene. We talk to its visionary General Director, Giorgos Koumendakis, tour GNO’s state-of-the-art workshops and meet Alexandros Efklidis, the Director of the Alternative Stage Davóne Tines American bass-baritorne Davóne Tines meets Ashutosh Khandekar ahead of London’s first Classical Pride Exploring the psychology of Werther As Massenet’s emotionally charged opera arrives at Grange Park, we meet the singers taking on the roles of Werther and Charlotte for the first time and ask, does it matter if Werther was a narcissist? Vienna, Athens and Tokyo Our reviews are focussed around three cities and their spring operatic offerings, as well as Rusalka at Bergen National Opera and Fallet Makropulos at Malmö Opera My Favourite Things Director Annabel Arden Quiz How well do you know SaintSaëns Samson et Dalila? Test your opera knowledge in our monthly 47 R I K I M A R U H O T T A / N E WN A T I O N A L T H E A T R E , T O K Y O T O M G R A D W E L L Elgan Llŷr Thomas A new album celebrating queer art song from Welsh tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas is released on Delphian. We catch up with him to discover 20th century gay classical culture and his hopes for the future of opera OperaNow July 2023 5