Day: 26 July 2026
Samson et Dalila, Saint-Saëns, Dorset Opera Festival, fine singing that provides secure foundations for a shaky production
*** In Dorset Opera’s Samson et Dalila the voices are strong, the chorus exemplary, and Jeremy Carnall’s orchestra plays with real conviction. Rufus Martin gives us a single set, a heavily damaged temple, and it stays put all evening. At first I took it for the wrecked place of worship of the conquered Jews, which…
L’elisir d’amore, Dorset Opera Festival, Donizetti with real heart
★★★★ There are two things that keep me coming back to Dorset Opera, and both were in ample supply here. One is a chorus of a size that lets it do what a chorus is actually supposed to do, and the other is musicianship of a standard that would embarrass companies with ten times the…