Mainly Opera and Ballet
In this hugely welcome revival of David McVicar’s 2015 production, the three greatest moments came in Act III: Sondra Radvanovsky’s terrific Mamma morta, Dimitri Platanias’s cri de coeur against the wrong turn the Revolution has taken, and Elena Zilio’s electrifying cameo about giving her grandson to fight and die for France. Roberto Alagna’s Chenier was less …
In an entirely unexpected coincidence this new production of an opera about the 1794 French Reign of Terror had its first night less than two weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris. I refer to the execution of journalists at Charlie Hebdo who, like the real André Chenier, transformed their pens into sharp weapons against …
In Shakespeare’s day a ‘Lord of Misrule’ would call for entertainment and songs on Twelfe Night, a tradition going back to the medieval Feast of Fools and even the Roman Saturnalia. His play celebrates this by making a fool of the miserable Malvolio, hilariously played here by Stephen Fry, with Sir Toby Belch and others representing the spirit …
