Author Archives: Mark Pullinger

“Esultate!” Kunde’s Otello impresses at Covent Garden

Verdi: Otello Royal Opera, 9th December 2019 It’s good to have expectations confounded. For much of his career, American tenor Gregory Kunde specialised in bel canto repertoire, his light, flexible voice ideal for Rossini with easy top notes that also … Continue reading

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Scarpia stabbed, Tosca smothered by Livermore’s La Scala staging

Puccini: Tosca Teatro alla Scala, 7th December 2019 A stone lion pins down its prey in Scarpia’s study, symbolic, no doubt, of the cat-and-mouse game the Chief of Police plays with Tosca in Act 2. But it could also represent … Continue reading

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Icy chic: Svetlana Zakharova as Coco Chanel in an airbrushed ballet tribute

Come un respiro/ Gabrielle Chanel Coliseum, 4th December 2019 “Fashion becomes unfashionable. Style never.” Coco Chanel was the epitome of style and there was no doubting it in Yuri Possokhov’s ballet which depicts the iconic couturière, created this year for … Continue reading

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A long road to nowhere for Igor at the Bastille

Borodin: Prince Igor Opéra national de Paris, Bastille, 1st December 2019 Gone are the days when Borodin’s Prince Igor was presented as dry historical pageant, dusty stagings of static tableaux. Directors now prefer to tap into the psychology of the … Continue reading

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Noseda digs into his “Russian Roots” with the LSO

Noseda/ London Symphony Orchestra Barbican, 28th November 2019 “Russian Roots” is the title of Gianandrea Noseda’s ongoing series with the London Symphony Orchestra, an exploration of Russian repertoire rather than anything to do with the conductor’s – Milanese – origins. … Continue reading

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