Tag Archives: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Magic from the pit in Nevill Holt Opera’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Nevill Holt Opera, 12th June 2019 Musk roses, oxlips, nodding violets. The grounds of the Nevill Holt estate in Leicestershire are probably host to all of the flora Oberon describes to Puck to aid him … Continue reading

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Hot ice and strange snow: an unseasonal return for Carsen’s bed-hopping Dream

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream **** English National Opera, 1st March 2018 Heading to the Coliseum for A Midsummer Night’s Dream amid snow and ice is a disconcerting prospect – “hot ice and strange snow” indeed. Forget wild thyme blowing and substitute … Continue reading

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A silvery Dream lost among the shadows: Britten at the Aldeburgh Festival

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream **** Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh Festival, 12th June 2017 Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an opera swathed in a sensual, yet sinister score, conjured from a tiny ensemble where Oberon’s fairy kingdom is evoked by glistening glockenspiel, … Continue reading

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Plums and turkeys: a musical voyage around 2016

Most people I know cannot wait to see the back of 2016. But in the year in which Brexit, Trump and the Grim Reaper were the big winners, I admit to having had a terrific twelve months. A whirl of … Continue reading

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Enchanted Wood: dream of a Dream at Glyndebourne

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream ***** Glyndebourne, 11th August 2016 “Out of this wood do not desire to go!” Tytania orders Bottom. Glyndebourne’s revival of Peter Hall’s classic production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is eerily enchanting, weaving its spell right … Continue reading

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