Mainly Opera and Ballet
Mozart’s final opera, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) is a masterpiece. It sets the realm of night and obscurantism against that of daylight and rational thinking. These opposing worlds are ruled by the Queen of the Night, and Sarastro, named after the great Iranian prophet Zoroaster. Sadly the depth of this opera is lost in …
The musical performance, singing and choreography in this fizzing five-star production of Cole Porter’s great musical should have you clapping, laughing and cheering. First created for Opera North last year, the colourful staging by Jo Davies seamlessly unifies classical opera singers with musical theatre artists, and David Charles Abell’s superb recreation of the original music …
There seem to have been a plethora of Bohèmes recently. The one by English Touring Opera last autumn shows a performance can tug unbearably on the heart-strings accompanied by only the simplest of sets, and the final run of John Copley’s Covent Garden production shows that even with the most glorious sets and world’s top …
… what really made the evening was the superb singing of Susan Gritton as the Countess. Her soliloquy towards the end was mesmerising. I was bowled over.
