Category Archives: Opera

Stairway to heaven: a thrilling Mefistofele in Budapest

Boito: Mefistofele ***** Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, 28th May 2015 Rarely performed, Boito’s Mefistofele is an audacious, spectacular opera, needing an audacious, spectacular staging to do it justice. That’s exactly what it gets in Balázs Kovalik’s production for Hungarian State … Continue reading

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Der Freischütz: Sándor Zsóter takes brave aim but misses the mark

Weber: Der Freischütz ** Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, 27th May 2015 “A fearsome forest gorge, thickly wooded; two thunderstorms are approaching… a blasted oak, its rotting core gives off a ghostly light.” If that stage description chills, so does the music for … Continue reading

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Devilishly good fun: Gábor Bretz’s Méphistophélès dominates the stage in Budapest

Gounod: Faust *** Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, 26th May 2015 The devil may not get all the best tunes in Gounod’s Faust, but Gábor Bretz certainly stole the show in this new production at Hungarian State Opera. Polish director Michał … Continue reading

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Sultry, fiery, coquettish: Stéphanie d’Oustrac’s Carmen has it all

Bizet: Carmen **** Glyndebourne, 23rd May 2015 “The very incarnation of vice” was how one critic described Célestine Galli-Marié’s Carmen at the opera’s 1875 Opéra Comique première. That description could equally be applied to Stéphanie d’Oustrac in Glyndebourne’s revival of … Continue reading

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An atmosphere filled with dust and testosterone: Bieito’s Carmen returns to ENO

Bizet: Carmen *** English National Opera, 20th May 2015 Calixto Bieito’s Carmen is far removed from sun-drenched, picture postcard Seville. A bull and flamenco dresses make appearances, but these are nothing but illusions: the giant Osborne sherry company bull that looms … Continue reading

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