Tag Archives: Eric Halfvarson

Diamonds and rust: Schlesinger’s Hoffmann bows out at Covent Garden

Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann The Royal Opera, 28th November 2016 A return visit to John Schlesinger’s vintage production of The Tales of Hoffmann did little to alter my opinion from the first night of this final revival. For good or … Continue reading

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A final outing for the Royal Opera’s lavish but fusty Tales of Hoffmann

Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann *** Royal Opera, 7th November 2016 When an enormous black gondola creaks and shudders its way across the stage in the “Giulietta” act of the Royal Opera’s The Tales of Hoffmann, it acts as a metaphor … Continue reading

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Turgid tempi hamper Barenboim’s Rheingold

Prom 14: Das Rheingold *** Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim, Royal Albert Hall, 22nd July 2013 ‘A sultry haze hangs in the air,’ remarks Donner towards the finale of Das Rheingold. He wasn’t wrong. In a Royal Albert Hall sweltering like Nibelheim’s furnaces, … Continue reading

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