Tag Archives: Maurizio Benini

Herheim’s lavish Vêpres siciliennes returns to Covent Garden in triumphant style

Verdi: Les Vêpres siciliennes **** The Royal Opera, 12th October 2017 A mural depicting Etna erupting is the only hint of Sicily in Stefan Herheim’s opulent staging of Les Vêpres siciliennes, returning to Covent Garden for the first time since the Verdi … Continue reading

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Ekaterina Bakanova a touchingly fragile Violetta in Covent Garden Traviata

Verdi: La traviata *** The Royal Opera, 14th June 2017 Kasper Holten was right. The affable former Director of Opera always defended yet another run of Verdi’s La traviata at Covent Garden by arguing that for every regular operagoer jaded by seeing … Continue reading

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Devilishly good fun: Gábor Bretz’s Méphistophélès dominates the stage in Budapest

Gounod: Faust *** Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, 26th May 2015 The devil may not get all the best tunes in Gounod’s Faust, but Gábor Bretz certainly stole the show in this new production at Hungarian State Opera. Polish director Michał … Continue reading

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