Day: 17 July 2021
A young and vibrant Figaro at Opera Holland Park
Adversity sometimes brings unexpected opportunity. In this case the requirements of social distancing was overcome by Opera Holland Park by borrowing free standing chairs from other companies and creating a very relaxed, informal setting for the audience to enjoy the Young Artists’ performance of Figaro. Of course, it means far smaller audiences than usual but…
Glorious singing in Onegin at Garsington
Michael Boyd’s production makes excellent use of the glass pavilion at Garsington with peasants visible as they approach the stage and similarly the pairs of lovers (or not lovers in Onegin and Tatyana’s case) walking around the outside of the auditorium. However, it was distracting having some scenes overshadowed by unnecessary although stylish additions such…
Cosi under the big top at Longborough
It would have probably been too obvious to cast Don Alfonso as a ring master in the big top seeing we were indeed watching and listening to Cosi in a circus tent at Longborough Festival Opera. Instead, he is a card shark, playing on Guglielomo and Ferrando presumably slightly nouveau twit gullibility to firstly part…
Pountney’s take on Ivan the Terrible at Grange Park Opera
David Pountney production of Ivan the Terrible for Grange Park Opera is an uncharacteristically sedate affair, lacking in the excesses of violence or sex, psychological acrobatics or quirkiness – and for once it could actually have done with some of this. With the pretty obvious exception of making Ivan the Terrible a Stalin figure (some may…