Author: Mike Smith
Updated frivolity for L’Orfeo, Longborough Festival Opera
*** The staging of Longborough Festival Opera’s contrasts the playing of Monteverdi’s 1607 score by the Venetian Baroque period musicians of La Serenissima with a show that takes its theme from Glastonbury-style festivals and modern hospitals. So, in Olivia Fuchs production our Orfeo swaps his lyre for an electric guitar (fortunately it makes no sound)…
The Flying Dutchman, but not as you know it, OperaUpClose, Bristol
*** The cult quote: “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it”, may never have really featured in Star Trek. But “It’s Wagner, folks, but not as you know it” would certainly apply to Lucy Bradley’s reworking of The Flying Dutchman for OperaUpClose. Here performed at the probably too small Exhibition Hall, SS Great…
The Flying Dutchman – OperaUpClose
OperaUpClose and Manchester Camerata present The Flying Dutchman From the SS Great Britain in Bristol to a former turbine factory in Liverpool, a radically re-imagined Wagner masterpiece tours to waterside venues Words by Glyn Maxwell | Orchestration by Laura Bowler in association with Robin Wallington | Directed by Lucy Bradley Touring, Wednesday 28 June –…
Queen of Spades wins hands down, Grange Festival
Clear, unfussy direction, a versatile and attractive set, rich orchestral playing, and singers thrilling in their artistry and authenticity – this was the pleasure of Grange Festival’s Queen of Spades. At first it jars a little, having lots of patriotic Mother Russia sentiment expressed on stage at such a time of imperial warfare against Ukraine,…
A charming and clever double bill of Gluck and Purcell at Grange Festival
This intelligent and extremely entertaining double bill of Gluck and Purcell at Grange Festival has three stars: the cast, the orchestra, and Robert Innes Hopkins. Why Hopkins? Because the set is pivotal to not only both dramas but enables this special opera festival to present two works with minimal production changes. Alexandra Oomens and Heather…
Dastardly dealings for Il Trovatore, Royal Opera
*** This intriguing Adele Thomas direction of Verdi’s Il Trovatore has at its core the horrific damage done to the so-called witch Azucena and her quest to fulfil her mother’s demand at the stake for vengeance. Our eyes may be drawn to the quasi-Medieval teeth snarling stylised mask that opens and closes like the jaws…
Mitridate, re di Pontus, earns his (zebra) stripes, Garsington Opera
***** Sometimes it is a bore being an opera-loving academic classicist. On one hand it can be very helpful knowing the classical and mythological tales that so many operas are based on. On the other, however, directors and their designers can really get your purist heckles up. However, when this Mitridate, Re di Ponto opens…
An Ariadne auf Naxos to bring the Olympian gods to their feet, Garsington Opera
***** 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…
A delightful, enlightening Candide, Welsh National Opera
**** 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…
A magical L’elisir from Longborough Festival Opera
Watching 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,…