Day: 13 July 2025
Keenlyside and Pritchard shine in vintage Verdi at Grange Park
**** There was something slightly surreal about watching a nearly 30-year-old David Pountney production of Simon Boccanegra at Grange Park Opera, with props from his latest work for the festival — his brooding new staging of Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa—sitting off to the side of the theatre in the woods. As a collision of old and new,…
Nishat Khan’s Taj Mahal shimmers with beauty, but lacks narrative flow
*** It’s always a bold undertaking to bring a centuries-old tale steeped in history and legend to the operatic stage, and Nishat Khan’s Taj Mahal at Grange Park Opera succeeds spectacularly in one respect: the production is a visual and musical feast of breathtaking imagination. Yet, despite the exquisite craftsmanship and moments of lyrical beauty,…