Tag Archives: Bertrand de Billy

Giant haystacks: Pelly’s sunny L’elisir d’amore romps back to Covent Garden

Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore **** The Royal Opera, 27th May 2017 This was meant to be Pretty Yende’s night. The South African soprano, praised for her bel canto feats at houses like The Met and Paris, was making her much-anticipated Royal … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Royal Opera’s Don Carlo revival fails to ignite

Verdi: Don Carlo *** Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 12th May 2017 “What a day, what a day for an auto-da-fé” sings the chorus in Bernstein’s Candide, “It’s a lovely day for drinking and for watching people fry!” The Royal Opera … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Phew! What a scorcher!

Bizet: Carmen **** Royal Opera, 3rd October 2009 ‘Phew! What a scorcher!’ might well be a tabloid headline for a review of this revival of The Royal Opera’s Carmen, and an entirely appropriate one at that as this first night … Continue reading

Posted in Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Phew! What a scorcher!