Tag Archives: Robin Ticciati
Posted on 5 August 2024
The wonderful acoustics of the Glyndebourne opera house yielded a perfect musical experience, enhanced by imaginative off-stage contributions that came from more than one location. The conducting by music director Robin Ticciati allowed Wagner’s music full expression in this abstract production. See my review for The Article.
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Posted on 21 May 2024
Last month the Royal Opera staged a new production of Carmen, and this month Glyndebourne did the same. On balance I preferred the Royal Opera’s, but wish there had been better communication between the two administrations to avoid a clash. Both productions had their merits, and this one by a female director seemed too focused …
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Posted on 14 June 2023
Silently, each nun leaves the stage. The swish of the guillotine is heard, and a pair of shoes comes flying across to hit the opposite stage wall. The little group of nuns slowly reduces in number, and the pairs of shoes are a reminder of the Nazi Holocaust. The director Barrie Kosky has created a …
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Posted on 25 May 2022
Ethel Smyth’s third opera opened the Glyndebourne season, performed in its original French without cuts. Odd since it is by an English composer, and its first performance was in a cut down German translation that the composer refused to tolerate. She removed all the orchestral scores in Leipzig, and when Beecham gave the first British …
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Posted on 14 August 2021
A superb musical rendering of Wagner’s most intense opera under the baton of Robin Ticciati. This was semi-staged and therefore avoided any egregious directorial interpretations, and allowed the music speak for itself. Excellent singing by a very fine cast headed by Simon O’Neill as Tristan. See my review in The Article.
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Posted on 21 May 2021
The opening night of Glyndebourne’s season featured a vibrant production of Janaček’s dramatic opera Katya Kabanova with the wonderful Czech soprano Kateřina Kněžíková in the title role. A superb performance under the baton of Robin Ticciati in a new production by Damiano Michieletto. My review in The Article.
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Posted on 30 June 2019
Wonderful revival of Rusalka under the baton of Robin Ticciati reminds us how forces of destiny defy human agency in this Dvořák opera. Beautiful phrasing and clarity of tone by Sally Matthews in the title role brings out the purity of this water creature that can never quite become warm flesh and blood — my review …
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Posted on 20 May 2019
When it all seemed to be over a dance encore was performed, to music extracted from earlier in Berlioz’s score. But this did not redeem Richard Jones’s dreary production, which made a lacklustre start to the new Glyndebourne Season. See my review in The Article
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Posted on 21 May 2018
When Strauss and von Hofmannsthal first imagined this opera its working title was Ochs von Lerchenau, and in this performance Brindley Sherratt gave a superb account of that role. Not the buffoon of some portrayals, he exhibited a style of his own, with stockings that didn’t reach his breeches in Act I — a country …
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Posted on 29 August 2017
Hearing the overture without the stage trickery of the Glyndebourne production allowed us to fully appreciate the glorious dramatic intensity and lightness of spirit given to Mozart’s music by Robin Ticciati and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The absence of efforts at contemporary relevance by a director — one of the joys of …
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Posted on 15 August 2015
When the performance began I wondered whether Glyndebourne had made the right decision in bringing Seraglio to the Proms, as opposed to one of their other new productions such as Donizetti’s Poliuto or Handel’s Saul, which would have sounded well in the Albert Hall. Mozart’s Seraglio, performed in Glyndebourne under its original title Die Entführung …
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Posted on 14 June 2015
For a summer evening in a relatively intimate theatre this Mozart Singspiel, making its 197th performance at Glyndebourne, is perfect. Yet the production by David McVicar is entirely new. Sensitive and stylish, with excellent designs by Vicki Mortimer, beautifully lit by Paule Constable, it brings out the strong points and charming absurdities of this engaging …
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Posted on 23 July 2014
After all that kerfuffle about Octavian at the opening night of Glyndebourne’s new Rosenkavalier it was a pleasure to see this concert performance and confirm two things. Glyndebourne was absolutely right to choose Tara Erraught for the role, and while I blamed director Richard Jones for the ill-fitting clothing on opening night (see my review) …
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Posted on 29 June 2014
Pretending is what Finta is all about — the title itself means The Pretend Gardener — but too much pretence can make you can lose your way, which is exactly what happens here. The separated lovers, Sandrina (aka La Marchesa Violante Onesti) and Count Belfiore have to find themselves and one another before they can …
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Posted on 18 May 2014
Glyndebourne’s 80th anniversary festival, dedicated to the late Sir George Christie, son of the founder and the man who built the present opera house, opened just ten days after his death. His son Gus came onstage at the start to offer a tribute to his ‘dear old Dad’, and in honour of the 150th anniversary …
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Posted on 5 February 2013
Artistic director Kasper Holten decided quite sensibly to take over the scheduled revival of an earlier production, and do something new. He was already endowed with some fine singers, so there were excellent performances here, including sympathetic conducting by Robin Ticciati. Simon Keenlyside sang strongly as Onegin though the production prevented him from giving a full portrayal …
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Posted on 28 June 2012
If you demand this opera in eighteenth century costume — and I overheard some in the audience who did — then forget it. But if you are happy to see a more up to date interpretation, then this is a winner. It’s the 1960s and Almaviva is one of the nouveau riche, possibly a pop star, …
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