I am preparing to conduct Werther for the first time, the opera in four acts by librettists Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann, set to music by Jules Massenet after a difficult creation process followed by an equally complicated history of first performances.

On 28th October 1837, Roberto Devereux, an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, premiered at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples. This work, based on Jacques-François Ancelot’s tragedy Elisabeth d’Angleterre,

The Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and I are always delighted to be guests at the prestigious Budapest Zeneakadémia and now we are about to return there. On 19th October, I’m conducting an all-Brahms concert which I know will be lyrical and passionate thanks to the sound of our orchestra and the skills of pianist Simon Trpčeski.

Attila, like other early Verdi operas, has always sparked my interest. It’s a ‘patriotic opera’, but careful analysis reveals a certain scepticism behind the composer’s patriotism. The opera was received from the outset with some ambivalence,