Author: Mike Smith
An Ariadne auf Naxos to bring the Olympian gods to their feet, Garsington Opera
26th June 2023***** Great things are now expected from the acclaimed Natalya Romaniw, and in Bruno Ravella’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos for Garsington Opera the warm, golden-voiced soprano delighted. She has enjoyed great success with this glorious opera company in a variety of roles that have demonstrated versatility of singing and acting across genres. Here Romaniw […]
Read More
A delightful, enlightening Candide, Welsh National Opera
23rd June 2023**** It has been a while since I can remember Welsh National Opera getting a (well-deserved) standing ovation and while it is a pity it is for a fun musical rather than “serious opera” at least the company is pleasing people again. Similarly, the previous crowd-pleaser was Blaze of Glory, another witty and laugh-out-loud lighter […]
Read More
A magical L’elisir from Longborough Festival Opera
21st June 2023Watching Longborough Festival Opera’s L’elisir d’amore within 48 hours of attending Tristan und Isolde at Grange Opera made this genuinely funny production even more delightful. Delightful as Donizetti took the love potion straight from Wagner’s tragic masterpiece and turned into the heart of a comic romp that is quite the antidote to the demanding, and wonderful, […]
Read More
A Pre-Raphaelite searing delight: Tristan und Isolde, Grange Park Opera
20th June 2023***** Take singers in fabulous voice, the Gascoigne orchestra luxuriating in Wagner’s exquisite music and a visually and theatrically intelligent and beautiful production and you have Grange Park Opera’s life-affirming Tristan und Isolde. From those unmistakable opening sounds rising from the orchestra, under Stephen Barlow’s conducting, in the small and intimate Grange Park auditorium it […]
Read More
Passion and control; Werther at Grange Park Opera
20th June 2023**** John Doyle’s stark yet still beautiful staging of Massenet’s Werther continued what seems a probably unintended season of productions where the soprano dominates even if, as here, a man has the title role. The Gascoigne Orchestra conducted by Christopher Hopkins, sweeping along with the intense score, makes full affect with Massenet’s grand climatic moments. […]
Read More
Feisty Tosca fights the fascists at Grange Park Opera
11th June 2023**** Grange Park has brought together a powerful cast for this revival of Peter Relton’s 2017 direction of Tosca, with similarly stentorian conducting of the BBC Concert Orchestra by Mark Shanahan. While I am unfamiliar with the 2017 original show that is now revived by Stephen Medcalf, it remains the performance of the cast and […]
Read More
Götterdämmerung at Longborough: Catharsis in the Cotswolds
31st May 2023**** One important achievement of Amy Lane’s handling of Götterdämmerung is that it allows the singers and musicians to concentrate their talent and skills on Wagner’s Ring Cycle catharsis without too much over direction. In a confined space it seems sensible to concentrate our focus on the unfolding drama which is all contained in the […]
Read More
NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY AND OPERA NORTH IN TUNE WITH NEW PARTNERSHIP
10th May 2023Newcastle University and Opera North have announced a new three-year collaboration, with the ambition to transform performance practice and audience accessibility through an exchange of knowledge between academic research and the operatic stage. The partnership builds on the two organisations’ history of working together around the Leeds-based opera company’s regular tours to Newcastle and Gateshead. […]
Read More
Longborough Festival Opera cast for its 2023 production of Götterdämmerung
16th March 2023Götterdämmerung (29 May – 6 June 2023). A new production for the 2023 festival, Götterdämmerung marks the epic conclusion to Longborough’s new Ring cycle, following acclaimed productions of Das Rheingold in 2019 , Die Walküre in 2021 and Siegfried in 2022. All productions in the cycle are created especially for Longborough by Amy Lane, Artistic Director […]
Read More
Magic Flute with chaotic youth energy
6th March 2023** I have a huge fondness for the Magic Flute, Mozart’s fantastical operatic quest, as it was the first opera I ever watched. Daisy Evans’ new production of the Magic Flute has clearly tried to do something a bit different and her production does have a chaotic youthful energy. Julia Sitkovetsky For me, the highpoint […]
Read More