Mainly Opera and Ballet
Under the baton of Anthony Negus this Ring cycle was outstanding, and of course a tremendous achievement for Longborough Festival Opera. The singers excelled themselves, and this venue has become a mini-Bayreuth — see my review in The Article.
What a wonderful start to Wagner’s Ring at Longborough, Britain’s answer to Bayreuth. Set in lovely Cotswold countryside this old barn of an opera house has made a speciality of Wagner, and under the baton of Anthony Negus has succeeded brilliantly. Here were the first two parts of the Ring performed to a very high …
Benjamin Britten’s musical version of Shakespeare’s famous play uses chords that never quite stabilise in order to create a linkage between the natural and supernatural worlds. On this occasion we were well served by a full moon, plus fine weather, showing the gardens through the glass sides of the Garsington opera house — see my …
This wonderfully intense Janacek opera was given a superb staging with Natalya Romaniw very moving in the title role. Thus far this summer, it is the most atmospheric performance I have seen — see my review in The Article.
Poppea was the mistress, later wife, of the Roman emperor Nero, and this final opera by Monteverdi deals with an entirely human drama. First performed in 1643 it helped move opera away from purely Classical subjects about gods and heroes — see my review in The Article.
The delightful music and witty dialogue of this genteel musical has a cutting edge of impropriety. In its new production at Glyndebourne, Merry Widow is true to the original while adapting the German libretto to English with dialogue presenting issues of current concern in the twenty-first century — see my review in The Article.
Grange Park Opera in Surrey is a magical place that boasts a brand new opera house in the woods. This year the season began with a double bill featuring Bryn Terfel in both operas: the first Aleko by Rachmaninov and the second Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. Of the two, Schicchi wins hands down, making it …
Antonio Pappano bows out at the Royal Opera with a superb Andrea Chénier. This verismo opera by Giordano is one of the great operas of that genre, with a superb libretto by Luigi Illica who wrote for Puccini and other Italian opera composers of that time. It brings the French Revolution and its bloody aftermath …
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 …
A performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with an international cast was enough to attract me to the Teatro Real in Madrid. With Gerald Finley at the top of his game as a sympathetic Hans Sachs of huge gravitas, and a memorable Beckmesser in Leigh Melrose this was a moving performance. See my review …
