Mainly Opera and Ballet
Some people I’ve met consider Ariadne auf Naxos the greatest of Strauss’s operas, and this new Glyndebourne production did it full justice. Wonderful singing from all three female leads, particularly that of the earnest young composer, and a joyful sounding Bacchus — see my review in The Article.
The first three days of the Buxton featured three very different operas: Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow on the opening night, followed by Verdi’s La Traviata and Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula. Each in its own way typifying three time periods, but the main attraction for me was the appearance of Polish-American coloratura soprano Alexandra Nowakowski as …
Wagner’s Ring is well suited to summer music festivals, and Grange Park Opera in Surrey have now begun their own cycle this summer with a very effective Rheingold. The representation of the gods in costumes from the Classical world is arguably the best I’ve seen, and the conducting was excellent — see my review in …
Set during the English Civil War, this typically Italian tale of love between opposing sides of a conflict involves a complex story, and requires a superb soprano in the main role of Elvira. Here we had Lisette Oropesa, who was terrific — see my review in The Article.
What a terrific experience this was, seeing Verdi’s Macbeth in the Cotswolds with strong voices and excellent orchestral support. It was all so much more immediate than in a large opera house, and well worth the trip from London — see my review in The Article.
This revival of Glyndebourne’s excellent production of Britten’s Billy Budd was well worth a second view after some dozen years. It gives a brilliant evocation of the intensity of life and action in 1797 on a British battleship, some years after mutinies at Spithead and on HMS Nore — see my review in The Article.
Congratulations again to Longborough Festival Opera for their sensible production of one of Wagner’s greatest operas. They have eschewed the tendency to hire big name directors who want to present new concepts, and have relied on the superb understanding of Wagner’s operas by their musical director Anthony Negus as per my review in The Article.
A brilliant performance of one of Verdi’s greatest operas, suitably reduced to the size of the GPO stage. Very fine choral singing too, and a cast that did the opera full justice, conveying the huge power that Verdi gave to this story of love, betrayal, and conflict between Church and State — see my review …
This delightful Rosenkavalier was performed as Strauss intended without the improprieties that modern opera directors so often throw at the staging. The singing was immaculate, and the witty production a delight from beginning to end — see my review in The Article.
This is the first time Glyndebourne have staged Tosca, and the production by Ted Huffman has given us the “shabby little shocker” a critic in the 1950s once called it. Here is a military dictatorship that kills people in cold blood, and though the ending is different from the one Puccini intended, glorious singing and …
