December 2024 Vol ume 75 No. 12 Editor John Allison Deputy Editors Erica Jeal Henrietta Bredin US Editor Rebecca Paller Commercial Director Megan Jackson Editorial Board Hugh Canning Rupert Christiansen Andrew Clark Andrew Clements Richard Fairman George Hall Fiona Maddocks Roger Parker Editorial O ffices Rivermead, 6 Lower Teddington Road, Hampton Wick KT1 4ER Tel: +44 (0)20 8563 8893 editor@opera.co.uk www.opera.co.uk operamagazine @operamagazine @opera_magazine S ubscriptions and customer services Esco, Trinity House, Sculpins Lane, Wethersfield, Braintree CM7 4AY Tel: +44 (0)1371 851804 opera@escosubs.co.uk Members of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Tel: +1 212 362 0068 metropolitanopera@metopera.org Digital edition Exact Editions support@exacteditions.com www.exacteditions.com/opera Advertising Russell Bass, Cabbells Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 3603 7937 russell@cabbells.uk Front cover Lawrence Brownlee and Angela Yam in Boston Lyric Opera’s ‘Mitridate’ (see pp. 1632-4; photo: Nile Scott Studios)

with

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood

Past Editors Harold Rosenthal and Rodney Milnes

15 8 7 Nothing quite like it

By the Editor 15 8 8 December Spotlight 15 8 8 We hear that … 15 8 9 Newsdesk 15 9 3 The 2024 International Opera Awards 15 9 6 People 531: Alexander Soddy

Roger Parker 16 0 2 Readers’ letters 16 0 3 Camera conscious

John-Pierre Joyce on opera and film 16 0 9 ‘A good Catholic girl’

Great singers in great roles: Frederica von Stade talks to Roger Pines about Massenet’s Charlotte 1617 A sound legacy

In conversation with Fred Cohn, Frederica von Stade looks back on her recordings 162 0 Addressing Aida

Philip Kennicott revisits critiques of Verdi’s opera 1627 Metropolitan Opera broadcasts 16 31 Opera in the USA 1659 Opera around the world 16 9 3 Opera in the UK 17 15 Opera on CD 17 19 Opera on DVD and Blu-ray 172 2 Obituaries 1726 Opera calendar 173 6 Stage door: Duke Kim

Rebecca Paller

Opera, December 2024

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