The Shipping Cues: Why ships on stage make great drama
17 February 2015
Building a ship on stage might be a stage designer’s nightmare, but life on or by the sea has made ideal material for some of opera’s greatest stories.
Stormy Weather #2: Smart techniques for bringing a storm to the stage from history's great composers
23 January 2015
Beethoven inspired a host of operatic composers including Rossini, Verdi and Weill in musical methods for creating an operatic storm.
Our favourite doomed operatic parties
5 December 2014
Curses, seduction and murder – why are operatic parties always doomed to end in tears?
Britten and ballet: A surprisingly rich relationship
31 October 2014
Although he only created one full-length ballet, the composer had more to do with dance than you might think.
Voices Off: Famous examples of offstage voices in opera
6 March 2014
Some of our favourite examples of the power of the unseen singer.
Happy 100th birthday Benjamin Britten
22 November 2013
Music and life of one of the greatest composers of the 20th-century marked by live performances and broadcasts.
Opera's Madmen
11 October 2013
From Russian tsars to Suffolk fishermen, Alban Berg's Wozzeck isn't the only opera character to be driven insane.
Benjamin Britten at the Royal Opera House: An uneasy partnership
28 June 2013
A look over this troubled relationship – and the glorious operas it produced.
On the trail of Britten's Peter Grimes
29 June 2011
Postcard from Aldeburgh: a look at the landscape that inspired the opera.
