Lohengrin, Royal Opera, April 2022
April 24, 2022In May 1849 after completing Lohengrin, Wagner was on the barricades with the rebels, at least according to his own account, but when Prussian troops arrived he moved to Switzerland. Like the master, his hero Lohengrin, having saved Elsa from certain death, declines to lead the troops into battle, and moves home to the Knights …
Concert for Ukraine, Royal Opera House, April 2022
April 20, 2022Congratulations to the Royal Opera House for this wonderfully emotional concert for Ukraine. As music director Antonio Pappano said in his introduction this is not a denigration of Russian culture, but an expression of sympathy with Ukrainian people, suffering under a Russian invasion, and the musical selections were carefully chosen to fit this — see …
The Handmaid’s Tale, English National Opera, April 2022
April 12, 2022This dystopian view of a 21st century ‘Republic of Gilead’ in America dominated by religious zealots is set to music by Danish composer Poul Ruders that seems to get lost in its own details. It is more a slightly muddled fable on the emptiness of totalitarianism than an opera, and lacks a clear narrative thread. …
Peter Grimes, Royal Opera, March 2022
March 20, 2022In her new production of Peter Grimes Deborah Warner brought the setting up to date with detritus on the beach and yobbos threatening Ellen Orford. As Grimes himself Allan Clayton was outstanding, rough and ready but with mental issues in Warner’s sympathetic portrayal. Excellent contributions from Bryn Terfel as Captain Balstrode, and John Tomlinson as Swallow …
Jenufa, Welsh National Opera, March 2022
March 11, 2022Janaček’s music elevates this tragic to a gripping intensity, given terrific effect under the baton of WNO’s music director Tomaš Hanus, who is Czech, and in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine he spoke to the audience before the performance saying, “Let’s play today for humanity”. The orchestra responded with huge emotion and energy, …
Don Giovanni, Welsh National Opera, WNO, February 2022
March 8, 2022Welsh National Opera revived their excellent 2011 staging with a cast whose vocal abilities superbly matched the needs of Mozart’s opera. It was as near perfect a performance as one could wish in a production that eschewed over-clever ideas, and was well worth the trip to Cardiff — my review in The Article.
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