From this month's Opera

I see from this month's Opera magazine that Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia have performed Rossini's Guillaume Tell in French with Gerald Finley in the title role and have recorded it live for EMI. A particularly interesting prospect because they seem to have performed the work un-cut. I don't think I am familiar with the tenor John Osborn who sings Arnold, but the magazine's review speaks very highly of his performance in the concert in Rome.

In their obituary of Joachim Herz, Mark Elder remembers him from the 1975 ENO Salome as an awe-inspiring presence with a fearsome intellect and a 'powerful dictatorial style' so it is rather a relief to find that in more recent years he used to refer to himself as 'Das Fossil'.

David Alden is doing a new Giulio Cesare for ENO in 2012. Lovely that they are doing another new Handel production, and I can understand why they need a production to replace the old John Copley one. But can't help wishing that they had decided to extend the repertoire slightly and choose an opera not yet performed at the Coliseum, like Tamerlano or Rodelina.