Category Archives: Opera

Farcical elements to the fore in Eyre’s witty new Figaro as Met Opera season opens

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro **** Metropolitan Opera, 22nd September 2014 Le nozze di Figaro is often cited as the most perfect opera ever composed – a claim against which I find it difficult to argue. Based on Beaumarchais’ revolutionary La folle … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Farcical elements to the fore in Eyre’s witty new Figaro as Met Opera season opens

Sumptuously designed, but is this Rigoletto a ‘keeper’?

Verdi: Rigoletto *** English National Opera, 13th February 2014 The final revival in 2009 of Jonathan Miller’s Little Italy mafioso production of Rigoletto, a classic at English National Opera since it opened in 1982, was my first Opera Britannia review. … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sumptuously designed, but is this Rigoletto a ‘keeper’?

No brimstone as Kasper Holten turns Don Giovanni on its head

Mozart: Don Giovanni **** The Royal Opera, 12th February 2014 Jean-Paul Sartre closes No Exit with the line, “Hell is other people” (“L’enfer, c’est les autres”), yet in Kasper Holten’s new production of Don Giovanni, Hell is quite the opposite … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on No brimstone as Kasper Holten turns Don Giovanni on its head

The Met’s gorgeous Rusalka doesn’t probe the murky depths

Dvořák: Rusalka *** Metropolitan Opera, 8th February 2014 I’ve an inkling this production of Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Metropolitan Opera is the sort we’re supposed to shake our heads and sneer at. Sumptuously costumed and featuring handsome, realistic sets, Otto … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Met’s gorgeous Rusalka doesn’t probe the murky depths

‘Shabby shocker’ fails to impress

Puccini: Tosca ** Metropolitan Opera, 9th November 2013 Putting tried and trusted productions out to grass and replacing them is always a gamble. ENO unveiled its new Magic Flute last week, a spritely filly though some will hanker after Hytner’s … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Shabby shocker’ fails to impress