Tag Archives: James Creswell

Love, intrigue… and black paint-play: Luisa Miller at ENO

Verdi: Luisa Miller English National Opera, 12th February 2020 Luisa Miller hasn’t had much luck in London. Olivier Tambosi’s 2003 staging for The Royal Opera “vandalised Verdi” (The Observer), while Olivia Fuchs’ for Holland Park the following year was “badly … Continue reading

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Truth and Wisdom: a searching Zauberflöte at Garsington

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte **** Garsington Opera, 31st May 2018 “Square your actions and circumscribe your desires.” Across the façade of a great house, the square and compass – symbols of Freemasonry – are projected as brothers busily work at architectural … Continue reading

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Love in a cold climate: rare Rimsky-Korsakov opera revived by Opera North

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden *** Opera North, Grand Theatre, Leeds, 21st January 2017 Always winter, never spring. No, not Narnia, but The Snow Maiden, Alexander Ostrovsky’s 1873 fairy tale, rooted in Russian folklore, in which Snegurochka, daughter of Father Frost … Continue reading

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Slow to ignite: tepid revival of Bizet’s Pearl Fishers at ENO

Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de perles *** English National Opera, 19th October 2016 After Zurga torches his village so he can rescue the lovers Nadir and Leïla from their death sentences during the ensuing panic, billowing “smoke” filled the Coliseum stage so … Continue reading

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Disobedient daughter, outraged wife: Wotan’s woes mount in Opera North’s Die Walküre

Wagner: Die Walküre **** Opera North, Royal Festival Hall, 29th June 2016 In Anna Russell’s wittily deadpan analysis of Wagner’s Ring cycle, she describes Wotan as “the head god” – pausing for dramatic effect before adding “and he’s a crashing … Continue reading

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