John Caird
Il ritorno d’Ulisse, Garsington Opera at Wormsley
★★★★★ Il ritorno d’Ulisse is probably the hardest of Monteverdi’s trilogy to bring off on stage. First heard during Venice’s 1639–40 carnival season, Ulisse will be followed by L’incoronazione di Poppea at Garsington in 2028. Much of Ulisse‘s drama is internal, Penelope’s unbroken fidelity, Ulisse’s disorientation on returning to a home he barely recognises, and…
An Arcadian idyll: Orfeo at Garsington Opera
One of the many delights of Garsington Opera is how the glass walls of the pavilion allow for the “action” to begin and continue beyond the actual stage and auditorium. Being set in the exquisite Wormsley Estate, itself an Arcadian idyll, this is wonderfully appropriate for the first act of John Caird’s charming production of…
Don Giovanni, to hell and back
Don GiovanniWelsh National OperaWales Millennium Centre By Mike Smith The concept behind this take on the Mozart moral tale is Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, a monolithic bronze works, with human figures cast into the metal – as becomes the fate of the great seducer Don Giovanni. Figures from the vast masterpiece were also created…