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Contents FRONT OF HOUSE family life with a globe- 5 EDITORIAL trotting career, plus the latest developments at his 38 YEAR IN REVIEW A look back over the some of the memorable Great Britten? beloved Mariinsky Theatre operatic moments of 6 FEEDBACK 8-12 NEWS & NOTES 24 POSTCARD FROM .. . St Petersburg- a profile of opera in Russia's 2012, with predictions of next year's highlights fron'l our correspondents around the world New productions in Chicago, London, Glasgow, Leeds and Hong Kong MULTIMEDIA 64 NEW RELEASES Classics and rarities from the German composer Hans Werner Henze dies aged historic capital, with an imperial legacy that still 45 MAKING FRIENDS German and Italian repertoire on CD, DVD and Blu-ray 86 I Welsh National Opera permeates the city's grand How can you and your announces British Firsts cultural institutions favourite opera company get 67 OPERA ON FILM series I New Thai company to know one another better? Tony Palmer's Britten at celebrates Britten in 28 BALTIC HORIZONS Find out how joining a Friends 100 I Kasper Holten's Bangkok I James Levine to Opera in Estonia, scheme can seal the bond Don Giovanni Ouan) return to the Met I Carmen Latvia and Lithuania in Dublin I A letter from 48 OPERA BLUFF 68 BOOKS Bucharest I and more ... 30 BRITTEN 100 Become an instant expert Richard Wagner: Sorcerer of 14 TALENT SPOTTING Company of the month: Benjamin Britten's biographer Paul Kildea explores how the moral on Britten's Peter Crimes 51 SllUILLO Bayreuth I The Power cif the Ring BACK STAGE OperaUpClose presents La boheme at London's ambiguity at the heart of the Michael White takes a look composer's operas resonates at the challenging and 70 COMPANY PROFILES Charing Cross Theatre with audiences today MAIN STAGE 18 COVER FEATURE 34 BRITTEN IN 2013 Opera Now's pick of the international celebrations Russia's superstar maestro, marking the centenary of Valery Gergiev, discusses the the composer's birth machinations ofRussian politics, music education and his approach to combining eccentric operatic legacy Bo ton Lyric Opera - facing of avant-garde American down the recession with composer John Cage THE CRITICAL VIEW 54-63 LIVE REVIEWS an impressive programme of innovative work 78 CURTAIN CALL Cut the hype and concentrate Donizetti at the Metropolitan on the customer.Yehuda Shapiro Opera I Covent Garden's offers some words of advice Ring I Aida in Qatar I on the marketing of opera www op r W C L ~
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CONTENTS December Issue 2012 Opera Now's INTERNATIONAL GUIDE to the best live performances this winter PLUS: Opera on TV, online and in cinemas COMPETITION 64 Win Wagner's complete operas on 25 DVDs The opera world in 2012 felt fragile. Economic gloom led to premonitions of companies having to shut down in the face of dwindling audiences and cuts in funding. As the year comes to an end, where do we stand? There were, indeed, some closures, especially among smaller companies in the US where opera relies on sponsorship rather than subsidy. The mo t high-proftle casualty was the famous Liceu opera house in Barcelona, which saw a temporary lull in productions at the height of Spain's economic meltdown. There were public protests against the closure in the streets and staff agreed to continue working on much reduced salaries in order to keep performances on the stage. It wa a measure of opera's importance in the life of a great city. On the whole, though, opera has proved remarkably resilient in the face of the financial storm. Prudent planning and steady results at the box office have ensured a high rate of survival . The year has seen around 5,000 productions of opera in more than 500 cities- a respectable ftgure even when we were in economic boom times. Our Pick of the Year in this issue (page 38) tells its own story: it's not always the big international houses that drive artistic quality. Our correspondents have consistently chosen smaller companies, run with passion and imagination, as the real champions of 2012. As for things to look forward to in 2013, we've been eagerly anticipating the anniversaries of two operatic gods:Verdi andWagner. Next year will be a celebration of their greatness. In this issue, we examine the more complex legacy of the third and least understood of next year's birthday boy , Benjamin Britten. His operas have an uneasy place in the canon, full of moral ambiguity, providing an astonishingly pertinent and contemporary view of the relationship between the individual and society. For Britten, 2013 will perhaps be the ftrst chance for a global assessment of his operas and their impact on today's audiences. Doe Britten have a place be ide opera's 19th-century giants' The next 12 months should help us to find the answer. Meanwhile, Opera Now will be helping you to get the very best out of opera throughout the year. Don't forget to plan ahead with our special focuses on travel and our international festival guides in forthcoming issues. We wish you a very Happy ewYear, full of memorable evenings at the opera. Ashutosh Khandekar Opera Now I>ECI:.MBER 21JI2

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Contents

FRONT OF HOUSE family life with a globe-

5 EDITORIAL

trotting career, plus the latest developments at his

38 YEAR IN REVIEW

A look back over the some of the memorable

Great Britten?

beloved Mariinsky Theatre operatic moments of

6 FEEDBACK

8-12 NEWS & NOTES

24 POSTCARD FROM .. .

St Petersburg- a profile of opera in Russia's

2012, with predictions of next year's highlights fron'l our correspondents around the world

New productions in

Chicago, London, Glasgow,

Leeds and Hong Kong

MULTIMEDIA

64 NEW RELEASES

Classics and rarities from the

German composer Hans

Werner Henze dies aged historic capital, with an imperial legacy that still

45 MAKING FRIENDS

German and Italian repertoire on CD, DVD and Blu-ray

86 I Welsh National Opera permeates the city's grand How can you and your announces British Firsts cultural institutions favourite opera company get 67 OPERA ON FILM series I New Thai company to know one another better? Tony Palmer's Britten at celebrates Britten in 28 BALTIC HORIZONS Find out how joining a Friends 100 I Kasper Holten's Bangkok I James Levine to Opera in Estonia, scheme can seal the bond Don Giovanni Ouan) return to the Met I Carmen Latvia and Lithuania in Dublin I A letter from 48 OPERA BLUFF 68 BOOKS Bucharest I and more ... 30 BRITTEN 100 Become an instant expert Richard Wagner: Sorcerer of

14 TALENT SPOTTING

Company of the month:

Benjamin Britten's biographer Paul Kildea explores how the moral on Britten's Peter Crimes

51 SllUILLO

Bayreuth I The Power cif the Ring

BACK STAGE

OperaUpClose presents

La boheme at London's ambiguity at the heart of the Michael White takes a look composer's operas resonates at the challenging and

70 COMPANY PROFILES

Charing Cross Theatre with audiences today

MAIN STAGE

18 COVER FEATURE

34 BRITTEN IN 2013

Opera Now's pick of the international celebrations

Russia's superstar maestro, marking the centenary of

Valery Gergiev, discusses the the composer's birth machinations ofRussian politics, music education and his approach to combining eccentric operatic legacy Bo ton Lyric Opera - facing of avant-garde American down the recession with composer John Cage

THE CRITICAL VIEW

54-63 LIVE REVIEWS

an impressive programme of innovative work

78 CURTAIN CALL

Cut the hype and concentrate

Donizetti at the Metropolitan on the customer.Yehuda Shapiro

Opera I Covent Garden's offers some words of advice

Ring I Aida in Qatar I on the marketing of opera www op r W C L ~

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