Category Archives: Opera

Martin Kušej’s Idomeneo cast as gripping political power struggle

Mozart: Idomeneo **** Royal Opera, 3rd November 2014 “Here be dragons!” warned seafaring maps of yore, denoting uncharted territories. Martin Kušej, undertaking his first Royal Opera exploration, excised the sea monster from his vision of Mozart’s Idomeneo. Well, there was a … Continue reading

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Glyndebourne’s La traviata on tour: or What the Maid Saw

Verdi: La traviata ** Glyndebourne on Tour, Woking, 1st November 2014 Verdi never met Marie Duplessis, for she died five months before the composer’s first visit to Paris, but he was deeply touched by her fate, to be related through … Continue reading

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Jette Parker Young Artists step up to deliver a vivacious Rossini Silken Ladder

Rossini: La scala di seta **** Linbury Studio, 23rd October 2014 Rare – and not so rare – Rossini is rampant this autumn. While his opera seriaare celebrated by Welsh National Opera with new productions of Guillaume Tell and Mosè in Egitto, the Royal … Continue reading

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Broad slapstick eclipses Haydn’s Life on the Moon

Haydn: Life on the Moon ** English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire, 17th October 2014 Few composers deal in genial wit better than Joseph Haydn, so I was baffled that his opera buffa Il mondo della luna left me so grumpy … Continue reading

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The Macbeths triumph at The Met: Netrebko and Lučić reign in New York

Verdi: Macbeth ***** Metropolitan Opera, 24th September 2014 On a triumphant opening night of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, a smattering of boos resounded. The intended recipient? Adrian Noble, returning to direct this second revival of his 2007 staging. The reason? … Continue reading

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