C5 Films (Continent 5ive Films)

24/01/2025

My interview with the wonderful Judi Kutasi on the remarkable effects motherhood can have on the voice!

Romanian-Hungarian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi is described as possessing a “deeper dark voice” and has been predicted to be the “the Verdi mezzo of the next years.”

22/01/2025

With the remarkable martial artist, accomplished film stuntman and fine Italian tenor, Riccardo Massi, rehearsing for AIDA!
Operawire interview to follow.

10/01/2025

"This year marks my forty years on stage. And do you know what is important? I still have this flame inside. This fire. This passion. This is why I’m lucky. Sometimes, you don’t lose your voice. You lose the pleasure, the nerve, the passion, the spark. But as for me, I still feel the same thrill for singing like at the beginning. I have an unaltered desire to always try to do better and better; To study; To try to reach out and find other possibilities. I am like this. I am an eternal student."
My interview with legendary tenor, Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna is a renowned French-Sicilian tenor whose career could grace a fairy tale novel.

07/01/2025

My interview with the delightful and wonderfully gifted Italian soprano Chiara Isotton who made her recent Royal Ballet And Opera debut as 'Tosca'.

Italian Soprano Chiara Isotton is a graduate of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, and is a member of the La Scala Academy, Milan.

04/01/2025

Delighted to say that I appear THREE times in the 'Top Ten Most Read Reviews' of 2024.................and SIX times in the 'Top Ten Most Read INTERVIEWS of 2024' for the fabulous, world leading OperaWire!

Roll on 2025 Season!!
Operawire Aida Garifullina Royal Ballet And Opera Sondra Radvanovsky Antonio Pappano

As we wrap up 2024, here is a look back at some of the most-read articles of 2023. We will focus mainly on longer-form pieces like reviews and interviews for this article.

31/12/2024

According to the news, this time of year can be the most stressful, difficult and challenging time for many people, especially when trying to summon the courage to go on, to make new resolutions and determinations. I would like to give you the words of poet Matshona Dhliwayo:

"A star does not compete with other stars around it; it just shines"

"If you know who you are, no one can convince you to be who you are not"

"Don't be afraid of being alone; remember, when the sun rises, it rises with nobody at its side"

"Overcoming what frightens you the most strengthens you the most"

"You are not one in a million, you are one in 7.7 billion."

31/12/2024

If you sit on this bench at just before 11pm on New Years Eve......you will find that your smart phone/watch will advance forward ONE hour because at this point in Dungeness you will pick up the French/European time signal. Consequently, you can ring in the New Year at 11pm UK time and then leave the bench and ring in the UK New Year an hour later!!

Happy New Year(s)!!

'Time Travellers bench'

If you sit on this bench at Dungeness, you get to travel into the future and back again!

Here at this point, you will log into FRENCH time, (Central European Time), one hour ahead of UK time, before returning back to UK time when you leave!

I often wonder when I come here, how many people have sat here and pondered.

27/12/2024

What do you call someone who learned to play the piano at two, the violin at three, composing at five, and writing an opera at seven?

Answer: Alma Deutscher The most astonishing young lady I have ever had the privilege of interviewing.

According to renowned conductor Zubin Mehta, Alma Deutscher is “One of the greatest musical talents today."

27/12/2024

My review of 'La Boheme' at the Royal Ballet And Opera

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-house-2024-25-review-la-boheme/

21/12/2024

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!

This is the closest thing I have to a Christmas card! The Milky Way core isn't visible at this time of the year, but the frozen d***s and star filled skies above Fairfield Church still make for a seasonal flavour!

Legend has it that this church was built by the Archbishop of Canterbury after he was saved from drowning, in the d**e he had fallen into, by a passing farmer.

It is almost unique in that there NO graves or graveyard, as the church was frequently surrounded by water and the worshippers could only reach it by boat.

It is one of the most magical churches I have ever seen and I continue to film and photograph this, year after year.

19/12/2024

https://shorturl.at/ltDqz

My 'Best of 2024' reviews incorporated the amazing Aigul Akhmetshina & Aida Garifullina but pride of place went to the astonishing Sondra Radvanovsky for her Andrea Chenier with Jonas Kaufmann

This girl ALWAYS makes me cry!!

So as has become our tradition, here is a look at some of OperaWire's editorial team's picks for their personal favorite performances of 2024.

18/12/2024

Puccini's 'La Boheme' at the Royal Ballet And Opera Royal Ballet And Opera OperaWire review to follow!

Darren Pene Pati Olga Kulchynska Mikhail Timoshenko

18/12/2024

My review of Antonio Pappano's concert version of 'La Rondine' with Michael Fabiano carolina Lopez Moreno, Sarah Dufresne

Puccini called his work "La Rondine" a “commedia lirica”, effectively COMIC opera, but I consider it a TRAGEDY that this work isn’t performed more in the opera house.

17/12/2024

'Milky Way over Sunrise Bay'

You don't need the Seychelles or some other exotic location for stunning beach shots.......sometimes, you just need to look for the beauty in our planet closer to home

Romney Marsh coast in May......

13/12/2024

'The night the sea turned electric blue!'

June 2022

This is a RARE occurance for UK waters......magical, sparkling, electric blue bioluminescent plankton, emitting shimmering lights in the sea off the Kent coast.

The natural phenomenon creates noctiluca scintilans which sees the night-time sea sparkle and turn a dazzling neon blue colour - almost like it is glowing in the dark.

This glow is a product of marine microbes called bioluminescent phytoplankton. To see it like this really CAN be a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially in situ with the Milky Way!

13/12/2024

My interview with Russian baritone Mikhail Timoshenko

Russian baritone Mikhail Timoshenko began his musical and theatrical training in Mednogorsk, then at the Franz Liszt University in Weimar and the Hans Eisler in Berlin.

12/12/2024

My interview with the astonishing SeokJong Baek for Operawire where we discuss his incredible journey and meteroic rise as a tenor.

https://operawire.com/q-a-seokjong-baek-on-his-favorite-roles-how-his-faith-voice-transitioned-his-opera-career/

10/12/2024

Stunning performance of Puccinis rarely performed @ masterpiece under the baton of Antonio Pappano! Michael Fabiano