Tag Archives: Alzira

Swans, severed heads and a deerstalker: 2018 in review

“Wow! That’s some year you’ve had!” was a message written in one of this year’s Christmas cards. “Aiming to top it in 2019?” I’m not sure I have the energy! My outstanding operatic experience of the year was easily Salome at … Continue reading

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Revolutionary jungle fever: Verdi’s Alzira staged at the Buxton Festival

Verdi: Alzira **** Buxton Festival, 7th July 2018 It’s not just Paddington Bear and Juan Diego Flórez who hail from darkest Peru. Alzira, Verdi’s eighth opera, is set amongst Incas and Spanish invaders in a plot very loosely based on Voltaire’s Alzire, ou … Continue reading

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A whiff of greasepaint: Verdi crackling with theatricality from Chailly at La Scala

Viva Verdi! Filarmonica della Scala/ Riccardo Chailly (Decca 478 3559) Riccardo Chailly conducts Verdi at La Scala all too infrequently. In the past decade, there has been a 2006 Rigoletto, followed by the Franco Zeffirelli production of Aida, where Roberto … Continue reading

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