Verdi’s celebration of life

After years of writing tragedies, Verdi in his old age turned to the majestic girth of Shakespeare’s debauched knight, Sir John Falstaff, for inspiration in what would be his final opera. Conductor James Levine, who returns to the Met Opera after two years of illness, believes it is the greatest comic opera of all –…

TIMON OF ATHENS by Shakespeare

Timon of Athens – inspired staging

There’s a reason you have never seen a production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. It’s not his best play. It’s not even his, or rather, his alone, but probably a collaboration with Thomas Middleton. An awkward work that falls between tragedy and fable, it’s not surprising that it is seldom seen: huge cast, lots of…