Rossini: Le Comte Ory ***
Mark Milhofer
© Athole Still
Chelsea Opera Group, 25th June 2016
Whether fortuitous or sly programming, all three operas performed by Chelsea Opera Group this season have featured nuns: Isabella, propositioned in Wagner’s early comedy Das Liebesverbot; Leonora, about to take the veil in Verdi’s Il trovatore when all hell breaks loose; and this evening, Rossini’s Le Comte Ory. Here, it is the Count and his men who disguise themselves as nuns to sneak into the castle so he can have his wicked way with the Countess Adèle while her brother is safely away at the Crusades. A nun fetish? It’s not an easy habit to break…
Read the full review on Bachtrack.