Jenufa, English National Opera, March 2024
March 15, 2024This opera marks the beginning of Janáček’s personal style, with a series of five operas in the standard repertoire. The ENO production is excellent, set in the grey times of post WW2 communism, and the orchestral performance was outstanding. See my review in The Article.
Death in Venice, Welsh National Opera, WNO, March 2024
March 9, 2024In Thomas Mann’s novella Der Tod in Venedig (Death in Venice) Gustav von Aschenbach, a great man of literature from Germany dies in the warmth of Southern Europe. Made into an extraordinary opera by Benjamin Britten, the 17 scenes create a sense of inevitability in what can be seen as a Greek tragedy — see …
Magic Flute, English National Opera, February 2024
March 4, 2024This production of Mozart’s Magic Flute really is rather magical. The opera is a Singspiel — meaning a light opera with dialogue — and having it performed in English makes complete sense. The difference between the world of Papageno with his flat working man’s accent and the more superior beings such as Sarastro comes through …
Flying Dutchman, Royal Opera, March 2024
March 1, 2024Wagner’s Flying Dutchman is the first opera in his canon of ten mature works. He claims it was based on a novella by Heinrich Heine, but there is more to the story than that, and this excellent production was made musically gripping under the baton of Hungarian conductor Henrik Nánási, with singers on top form. See …
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