Tag Archives: Birtwistle

The Mask of Orpheus, English National Opera, ENO, October 2019

Harrison Birtwistle’s Mask of Orpheus is a complex, multi-layered composition, more symphony than opera, but high camp is not the right way to stage it. This was director Daniel Kramer’s swan song after his ill-starred role as artistic director, and confirms that the ENO did the right thing in dispensing with his services. My review …

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The Minotaur, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, January 2013

The opening night of this revival ended with a tribute to John Tomlinson for 35 years of wonderful service to the ROH — highly appropriate since composer Harrison Birtwistle has said Tomlinson was the key to writing this opera, which had been brewing in his mind for many years. The first scene shows Christine Rice as Ariadne on …

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