Captain Balstrode News Today

When three Australians appear on the same bill at one of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, it’s an occasion worthy of celebration.

Let me begin – most unusually – with the orchestra. The ENO's production of Peter Grimes (they're still, thankfully, at the Coliseum – despite the best efforts of the Arts Council) is remarkable in many ways, but the orchestra under Martyn Brabbins is quite outstanding. Their ability to draw the rapturous and rhapsodic from Benjamin Britten's score was met with deservedly tumultuous applause. Rapturous? Rhapsodic? This is Peter Grimes we're talking about here, an opera ...

This Peter Grimes is great crashing, complex, artistry encapsulated in a fine production and a showcase of ENO’s extraordinary talent. 

One of the best lines in James Grahams play about Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? remarks on how the British love a pub quiz because it combines their favourite things: drinking and being right.

In 1904 a German writer called England the land without music. The emergence of Elgar corrected that calumny.

How do you breathe life into the tale of the troubled Grimes and the villagers who torment him? We went along to rehearsals to talk to the cast and creative team behind the Royal Opera House’s new production

Barry Mora made his name as an opera singer in Europe, before bringing his talents back to New Zealand.