Tag Archives: Christopher Ainslie

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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All that glitters: Miskimmon’s hyperactive Semele opens Garsington’s season

Handel: Semele *** Garsington Opera, 1st June 2017 “Endless pleasure” could almost be the anthem of opera festivals up and down the country, accompanied by images of long interval picnics and rolling lawns basking beneath golden late afternoon sun. Garsington … Continue reading

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Biblical spectacle: an eye-popping, heart-stopping Saul for Glyndebourne’s Tour

Handel: Saul **** Glyndebourne on Tour, 27th October 2015 I admit to having been one of the doubters. When the 2015 Glyndebourne Festival programme was announced, my eyebrows drifted heavenward at the inclusion of Handel’s Saul. Why stage an oratorio when … Continue reading

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