Tag Archives: James Cleverton

A sunny evening in Provence: Cilea’s L’arlesiana shines at Holland Park

Cilea: L’arlesiana Opera Holland Park, 25th July 2019 The Italian verismo of Francesco Cilea’s L’arlesiana is drenched in Provençal sunshine, less earthy than the throbbing Sicilian heat of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, but with softer, pastoral shades. At just an hour … Continue reading

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Mesmerising Akhnaten returns to ENO

Glass: Akhnaten English National Opera, 11th February 2019 For the uninitiated, it’s not exactly an evening pregnant with promise: an opera largely sung in Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian, without surtitles, its two hour score chugging through obsessive ostinatos of A … Continue reading

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Revolutionary jungle fever: Verdi’s Alzira staged at the Buxton Festival

Verdi: Alzira **** Buxton Festival, 7th July 2018 It’s not just Paddington Bear and Juan Diego Flórez who hail from darkest Peru. Alzira, Verdi’s eighth opera, is set amongst Incas and Spanish invaders in a plot very loosely based on Voltaire’s Alzire, ou … Continue reading

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