Tag Archives: Anita Rachvelishvili

A long road to nowhere for Igor at the Bastille

Borodin: Prince Igor Opéra national de Paris, Bastille, 1st December 2019 Gone are the days when Borodin’s Prince Igor was presented as dry historical pageant, dusty stagings of static tableaux. Directors now prefer to tap into the psychology of the … Continue reading

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Opera as circus: a controversial Cav & Pag double bill in Rome

Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana; Leoncavallo: Pagliacci ** Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, 5th April 2018 Pagliacci begins with a prologue in which the clown, Tonio, explains that their show is “a slice of life” about real people, so one could forgive director Pippo … Continue reading

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Comic strip Trovatore a damp squib at the Royal Opera

Verdi: Il trovatore ** The Royal Opera, 4th December 2016 “Do you really want to see Trovatore on the stage with that story? Really?!” exclaimed Antonio Pappano to me recently. I can’t be sure the Music Director of the Royal … Continue reading

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