Gramophone

1 week ago | gramophone.co.uk | Mark Pullinger

⭐⭐⭐⭐Queen of Spades at Garsington Opera (Photo: Georgie Gulliver)After the lavish, eye-popping set for L’elisir d’amore, a showcase for what Garsington Opera’s new studios can achieve, comes frugality. In its new production of The Queen of Spades, regular festival goers will recognise the enormous mobile mirrors and black umbrellas from the St Petersburg act of its 2016 Eugene Onegin.

1 week ago | gramophone.co.uk | Gavin Dixon

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ian Koziara as Parsifal and Nicholas Brownlee as Amfortas and the Frankfurt Opera Ensemble (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)If, like me, you thought of Brigitte Fassbaender as a mezzo who recently turned to directing, you haven’t been paying attention. Fassbaender made the switch in 1995, and since then has held Intendant positions at Brunswick and Innsbruck. Nor is she new to Wagner, having directed a Ring Cycle at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl between 2021 and 2024.

3 weeks ago | gramophone.co.uk | Hattie Butterworth

Milan-based opera company Teatro alla Scala has announced its next Music Director as South Korean and conductor Myung-whun Chung, beginning in autumn 2026. Chung succeeds Riccardo Chailly, who will remain in post until the latter half of 2026. His contract is set to run until 2030, at which point hi will be 77-years-old.

3 weeks ago | gramophone.co.uk | Hattie Butterworth

ENO has announced its new 2025/2026 season alongside naming German conductor André de Ridder as its new music director, following on from Martyn Brabbins who resigned in 2023 following ENO's proposal to axe 19 orchestral positions. Currently Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Theater Freiburg, De Ridder's previous work with ENO includes conducting the premieres of Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kantin 2005, and Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in 2013.

1 month ago | gramophone.co.uk | Gavin Dixon

Gavin Dixon The opera director Pierre Audi has died in Beijing at the age of 67. Audi was principally associated with the Almeida Theatre in London and with Dutch National Opera. He pioneered a collaborative approach between art forms, which saw him work with some of the leading names in the visual arts and architecture. The repertoire of works that he directed was wide, ranging from the Baroque through to Wagner and into the present day, including nearly 40 world premieres.