Reviews
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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Mid Wales Opera Thatcher-themed Hansel and Gretel
25th March 2023**** As Mid Wales Opera’s take on Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel came to a close, there was no other conclusion available other than to think this was a job supremely well done by all involved. Every aspect of Mid Wales Opera’s production clicked into place, resulting in a delightfully entertaining and visually arresting show. Gone […]
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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 […]
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WNO Blaze of Glory! mines a deep musical seam
28th February 2023I have to confess to not really looking forward to an opera about Welsh choirs and coal mines. What next, a contemporary dance about rugby? Oh, we’ve had that. I was very pleasantly surprised by Blaze of Glory!, although I think the name and the supporting artwork really does not do this entertaining musical justice. […]
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A glorious debut, Tosca, Royal Opera
14th December 2022With the first pairing of British singers as Tosca and Cavaradossi in this Puccini opera at the Royal Opera since 1954 and the soprano’s debut, this promised to be a special Royal Opera evening. Then add the popular Erwin Schrott to this trio alongside Freddie De Tommaso and Natalya Romaniw in Jonathan Kent’s attractive, no-nonsense […]
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Bhekizizwe from Opera’r Ddraig
14th December 2022The strength of Bhekizizwe from Opera’r Ddraig, described as an operatic monodrama, is the performance by Themba Mvuta in the title role. I was going to say the only role, as this is a one person singing role, but the talented singer actually performs several characters in this story of a young person from a […]
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Cherry Town Moscow from WNO Youth Opera
15th October 2022As the headlines in the news have inevitably stoked an anti-Russian sentiment which is at risk of extending from the political decision-makers to the Russian people who too are their victims – and as episodes of censorship suggesting the erasure of all things Russian-related have repeatedly been pointed out in recent month – it is […]
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