June 2008 Volume 59 No 6

Editor John Allison Marketing Director Alice Lindsay Deputy Editor Erica Jeal Subscriptions Manager Megan Jackson Publishing Assistant Susan Randall

Editorial Board Martin Bernheimer Hugh Canning Rupert Christiansen Andrew Clark Andrew Clements Richard Fairman Michael Kennedy Fiona Maddocks Rodney Milnes (Chairman) Roger Parker Andrew Porter

Editorial Offices 36 Black Lion Lane London W6 9BE Telephone: 020 8563 8893 Fax: 020 8563 8635 e-mail: editor@opera.co.uk Website: www.opera.co.uk

Subscriptions Telephone: 020 8748 0911 e-mail: operasubs@opera.co.uk

Advertising Jane Stoggles Cabbell Publishing Ltd Tel: 020 8971 8450 Fax: 020 8971 8480

Front cover: Christine Rice as Ariadne in the premiere of Birtwistle’s ‘The Minotaur’ at Covent Garden (see pp. 713-16) (photo: Bill Cooper)

Founded in 1950 by the Earl of Harewood Past Editors Harold Rosenthal and Rodney Milnes

629 Mutiny at the Monnaie By the Editor

630 He’s the boss Philip Langridge and Stephen Langridge in conversation with Erica Jeal

634 Readers’ letters

636 People 346: Ferruccio Furlanetto Hugh Canning

646 The Cinderella soprano Douglas Smith on the remarkable life of Praskovia Kovalyova

652 Newsdesk

655 Building a tradition Julian Grant writes from Beijing

659 Obituary

660 Opera around the world

701 Opera in Britain

720 Opera on CD

724 Opera on DVD

734 Opera books

735 Coming events including plans for the UK houses (with first nights of the 2008-9 season at ENO), Vienna (Staatsoper), Amsterdam; ‘We hear that ...’; Opera calendar home and abroad

751 Classified advertisements

752 If I came back as ... Hans Sachs Mark Elder

Opera, June 2008

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