The Oldie

RICHARD OSBORNE

PARSIFAL, RUSALKA, LA DONNA DEL LAGO

Given the dire state of British theatre at present – the neglect of the classic repertory and the mangling of most of what is revived – we must be grateful for the work in the nation’s opera houses and privately funded music festivals.

There are horrors still to be endured. Still, Regietheater (German-inspired ‘director’s theatre’, by which an opera’s setting and even plot can be reinvented at will) is a condition that, in

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