Robert Thicknesse

Robert Thicknesse is the Critic's opera critic

The brilliant story of a Francis Bacon exhibition in Moscow

Carmen still shocks and seduces

With productions this bad, it is no surprise that nobody cares about opera

Could the jazz-hands pizzaz of musical theatre be just what opera needs?

We promise to respect Her Majesty’s life tenancy of Buckingham Palace

Contemporary debates over the “suitability” of many operas leaves us with only English productions

The ENO’s production of The Valkyrie may lack flames, but it is convincing nonetheless

While belly-laughs are not frequent, there’s terrific fun to be had in this massive soap-opera-style family melodrama

Why on earth would we want to see the same tawdry old stories endlessly re-enacted?

The Russians assume we use Opera to project state power, I assure them that the government hate the arts