Verdi: Un ballo in maschera **
Opera North, Leeds Grand Theatre, 3rd February 2018
If you had received an invitation to a masked ball at which there turned out to be no masks and no dancing, it’s understandable you’d feel disappointed. Thus it turned out at Opera North’s first ever production of Un ballo in maschera in a strangely unmoving staging by Tim Albery, mounted for the return of former music director Richard Farnes, who has always wanted to conduct the piece. Despite a boisterous account of Verdi’s score resounding – often quite loudly – from the pit, vocal performances were distinctly below par, making for an underwhelming evening.
Rafael Rojas (Gustavo) and Adrienn Miksch (Amelia)
© Clive Barda
Read the full review on Bachtrack.