Tag Archives: Ferruccio Furlanetto

Outrageous fortune: stellar opening night for Forza del destino at Covent Garden

Verdi: La forza del destino Royal Opera House, 21st March 2019 Nights at the opera like this come along once in a blue moon. A Verdi score packed with great music, populated by big names, big voices and big personalities. … Continue reading

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Political intrigues at the Royal Opera as Simon Boccanegra returns

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra **** Royal Opera, 15th November 2018 The air in London is rife with conspiracy, recrimination and infighting. But away from Westminster, political machinations and a baying mob are also at the heart of Simon Boccanegra, returning to the … Continue reading

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A soufflé that fails to rise: Rossini’s Barber falls flat at Covent Garden

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia ** Royal Opera, 13th September 2016 As a renowned gastronome, Gioachino Rossini could have shown Mary Berry a thing or two in the Great British Bake-Off tent. He had several dishes named in his honour, … Continue reading

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Seeing double: Kasper Holten’s Eugene Onegin returns to Covent Garden

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin **** The Royal Opera, 19th December 2015 The question I’d longed to ask Kasper Holten when his 2013 Royal Opera staging of Eugene Onegin opened was: if you’d had a younger soprano cast as Tatyana, would you … Continue reading

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Gergiev’s earthy Pictures painted in rich oils

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Songs and Dances of Death; Night on Bare Mountain  The loudest noise I’ve ever experienced in the concert hall was courtesy of Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky (then Kirov) Orchestra. Admittedly, it was in the … Continue reading

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