''Opera'' is a monthly

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

devoted to covering all things related to

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

. It contains reviews and articles about current

productions internationally, as well as articles on opera recordings, opera singers, opera companies, opera directors, and opera books. The magazine also contains major features and analysis on individual operas and people associated with opera. The magazine employs a network of international correspondents around the world who write for the magazine. Contributors to the magazine, past and present, include

William Ashbrook William Ashbrook (January 28, 1922 – March 31, 2009) was an American musicologist, writer, journalist, and academic. He was perhaps best noted as a historian, researcher and popularizer of the works of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. ...

Martin Bernheimer Martin Bernheimer (28 September 1936 – 29 September 2019) was a German-born American music critic. Described as "a widely respected and influential critic, who is particularly knowledgeable about opera and the voice", Bernheimer was the chie ...

Julian Budden Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (publish ...

Rodolfo Celletti Rodolfo Celletti (1917–2004) was an Italian musicologist, critic, voice teacher, and novelist. Considered one of the leading scholars of the operatic voice and the history of operatic performance, he published many books and articles on the subje ...

Alan Blyth Geoffrey Alan Blyth (27 July 1929 – 14 August 2007) was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He was a specialist on singers and singing. Born in London, Blyt ...

, Elizabeth Forbes, and

J.B. Steane John Barry Steane (12 April 1928 – 17 March 2011) was an English music critic, musicologist, literary scholar and teacher, with a particular interest in singing and the human voice. His 36-year career as a schoolmaster overlapped with his caree ...

among many others.

Format

''Opera'' is printed in A5 size, with colour photos, and consists of around 130 pages. Page numbering is consecutive for a complete year (e.g. September 2009 covers pages 1033–1168). All issues since February 1950 are available online to current subscribers (through

Exact Editions Exact Editions is an integrated content management platform for magazine and book publishers. It was launched in 2005 by Adam Hodgkin, Daryl Rayner and Tim Bruce. The platform expanded from a web-based subscription service into developing brande ...

History

Based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the magazine was founded in 1950 by

George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, (7 February 1923 – 11 July 2011), styled The Honourable George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was a British classical music administrator and author. He ...

. It was launched at the house of

Richard Buckle (Christopher) Richard Sandford Buckle CBE (6 August 1916 – 12 October 2001), was a lifelong English devotee of ballet, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine ''Ballet'' in 1939. Early life Buckle was the only son of Lieute ...

, under the imprint 'Ballet Publications Ltd'. It seems the previous Ballet and Opera magazine, edited by Richard Buckle, split into two separate magazines - one Opera and the other Ballet. After Lascelles,

Harold Rosenthal Harold David Rosenthal OBE (30 September 1917 – 19 March 1987) was an English music critic, writer, lecturer, and broadcaster about opera. Originally a schoolmaster, he became drawn to music, particularly opera, and began working on musical ...

served as editor from 1953–1986,

Rodney Milnes Rodney Milnes Blumer OBE (26 July 1936 – 5 December 2015) was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.Rodney Milnes. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, ...

from 1986 and John Allison has held that position since 2000, with Milnes as chair of the Editorial Board until his death in 2015. In 1965

Victor Gollancz Limited Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

published a wide-ranging collection of articles which had appeared in the magazine during the first 15 years, with alongside those by regular ''Opera'' contributors, articles by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, Sylvia Fisher,

Magda Olivero Magda Olivero (née Maria Maddalena Olivero) (25 March 1910 – 8 September 2014), was an Italian operatic soprano. Her career started in 1932 when she was 22, and spanned five decades, establishing her "as an important link between the era of th ...

Helga Pilarczyk Helga Pilarczyk (12 March 1925 – 15 September 2011) was a German operatic soprano. Born in Schöningen, she originally trained as a pianist, at Braunschweig and at the . However, she made her debut as a contralto at the Staatstheater Braunsc ...

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

Osbert Lancaster Sir Osbert Lancaster, CBE (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general p ...

Joan Cross Joan Cross (7 September 1900 – 12 December 1993) was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on ...

, Gottfried Schmiedel and

Erwin Stein Erwin Stein (7 November 188519 July 1958) was an Austrian musician and writer, prominent as a pupil and friend of Schoenberg, with whom he studied between 1906 and 1910.

. An occasional series of supplements have been published: ''Thirty all-time great recordings'' (August 2002), ''Great Opera Houses of the World'' (July 2003), ''In character: Great singers in great roles 1'' (August 2004) and ''2'' (September 2006), ''Great First Nights'' (September 2005), ''Opera stage on screen'' (September 2007); along with four volumes of reprints of profiles of singers (grouped by voice type, 2002–2004) and directors (January 2006 and January 2007). A separate annual 'Festivals' issue was published until 2012, with listings of opera or operetta festivals (or music festivals including operas) in the UK and all around the world for the coming season, preceded by longer articles on particular festival projects or personalities. From 2013, the separate issue was dropped in favour of a festivals focus in the April edition, due to the ready availability of listings on-line. In recent years, the last page has been a lighter feature, such as 'I can't live without...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

' by

Barbara Bonney Barbara Bonney (born April 14, 1956) is an American soprano. She is associated with lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss as well as lieder performances. Early life Bonney was born in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child she pr ...

(August 1999), ‘My First Opera – ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

''’ by

Osmo Vänskä Osmo Antero Vänskä (born 28 February 1953) is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist, and composer. Biography Vänskä started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971–76). He then became the principal clar ...

(February 2004), and

Roger Parker Roger Parker (born London United Kingdom, 2 August 1951) is an English musicologist and, since January 2007, has been Thurston Dart Professor of Music at King's College London. His work has centred on opera. Between 2006 and 2010, while Profess ...

on why he would like to come back as Pasha Selim (December 2007).

Editorial Team and Board

The current editor is John Allison, with Erica Jeal and Henrietta Bredin as deputy editors. The Editorial Board consists of Hugh Canning,

Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Life and career Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the ''Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (forme ...

, Andrew Clark, Andrew Clements, Richard Fairman, George Hall,

Fiona Maddocks Fiona Maddocks is a British music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "one of the UK's leading writers and commentators on classical music", Maddocks has been chief music critic of ''The Observer'' since 2010. S ...

, and Roger Parker.''Opera'' Magazine, September 2022

References

{{Reflist

External links

Opera Magazine web site
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1950 Magazines about opera 1950 establishments in the United Kingdom