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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fiona Maddocks's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Patrick Young (original producti.
Cast: Eddie Wade (Baron Douphol), Mark Beesley (Doctor Grenvil), Graeme Broadbent (Jan 30, Feb 1, 4, 12, 14), Monika-Evelin Liiv (Flora Bervoix), Kostas Smoriginas (Marquis D'Obigny), Ji-Min Park (Gastone De Letorieres), Haoyin Xue (Gastone De Letorieres, Jan 30, Feb 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 1, Sarah Pring (Annina), Elizabeth Sikora (Annina, Jan 30, Feb 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14), Maurizio Benini (cond), Paul Wynne Griffiths (Feb 14), Bob Crowley (des), Anna Netrebko (Violetta Valery), Norah Amsellem (Violetta Valery, Jan 30, Feb 1,4, 6, 9, 12, 14), Jonas Kaufmann (Alfredo Germont), Charles Castronovo (Alfredo Germont, Jan 30, Feb 1, 4, 6, 9, 12,, Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Giorgio Germont), Mariusz Kwiecien (Giorgio Germont, Jan 30, Feb 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 1, The Royal Opera
Description: Maurizio Benini takes the baton as Patrick Young directs Verdi's tale of the ill-fated love affair between the courtesan Violetta and the handsome Alfredo, in a revival of Richard Eyre's popular production. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Trains: Tube: Covent Garden 
Phone: 0207304 4000
Website: www.roh.org.uk
Email: onlinebooking@roh.org.uk
Extra info: Food, Air Conditioning
Electrifying: Anna Netrebko as Violetta is in stupendous voice
As a shower of golden glitter tumbled down on the chorus of partying champagne drinkers in the opening scene of La Traviata, it was clear there was one place to be last night.
The start of Covent Garden's 2008 season, a revival of Richard Eyre's much-loved staging of Verdi's masterpiece, was a triumph of operatic spectacle with three outstanding singers leading a top cast.
Anna Netrebko, now acclaimed as the global - or, why be cautious, intergalactic - operatic superstar of the 21st century, gave an electrifying performance as the consumptive heroine Violetta. This is the first time this audacious diva has performed the role in London, having already captivated audiences in Salzburg, Vienna and San Francisco.
Last seen here at the Proms, when she seduced some 6,000 people in the Albert Hall and a few million more watching at home, Netrebko radiates wild passion. She's funny and outrageous, with cover-girl glamour and a keen taste for the high-life. But none of this should detract from her seriously stupendous voice, or her hard-won professionalism.
At 36, she is in her prime. The Callas comparison, wearisome and inevitable, hardly does justice to Netrebko's colour, richness and effortless virtuosity. She made brilliant sense of Verdi's hedonistic fallen woman. Every word, every phrase, was imbued with meaning. This role is so demanding it can ruin voices. Netrebko held nothing back.
But loud is easy. As for pianissimos, she has a whole palette of hushed tones, all achieved with perfect control, the audience reduced to mesmerised silence to hear her.
Kaufmann, an outstanding Don José in Carmen last year, offers a subtle, introverted Alfredo, smouldering rather than explosive. His intelligent, minutely shaded reading was searingly comprehensible from the front of the stalls but whether it reached further back is less certain. Let's hope so.
In the anguished role of Germont, the smug father whose hypocrisy destroys his son's happiness, Hvorostovsky sang with characteristic glowing timbre, though he looks so wooden. Since his music, with its sobbing waltz melody refrain, is one long outpouring of grief, this physical coolness may be intentional.
The only Italian present was the conductor, Maurizio Benini, who directed a well-shaped account, after a nervous, hasty start. The ROH orchestra sounded refreshed, but slightly restrained. Richard Eyre's production, sumptuous in Bob Crowley's lavish period designs, launched the international career of the young Gheorghiu back in 1994.
Netrebko moves us to a new sublime level of emotional involvement. Tears even before the end of Act I? The auditorium was awash.
• In two casts, until 14 February (020 7304 4000, roh.co.uk).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
