Mainly Opera and Ballet
This engaging and eclectic new production by Julia Burbach gave us Rossini’s Cenerentola in a form where the pompous father seemed relatively normal. He hides huge insecurity behind a pretentious exterior, but Burbach managed to avoid making him a complete buffoon — see my review in The Article.
The last time the Royal Opera House put on a Cavalli opera was in autumn 2008 with an elaborate post-modern take on La Calisto. This time the emphasis is on authenticity, and the star of the show is the new small and intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, a candlelit auditorium recently attached to the Globe Theatre. …
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snowmaiden: A Spring Fairy Tale, like many Russian operas, is a series of tableaux, brilliantly realised here in a production by Christopher Cowell. The simple yet highly effective designs by Bridget Kimak, atmospherically lit by Jake Wiltshire, gave a magical quality to the world of the Berendeyans, who have been in the grip of …
