Tag Archives: Opera North

Martinů’s The Greek Passion: an opera for our times

Martinů: The Greek Passion Opera North, Leeds, 14th September 2019 It is a sad reflection on our current climate, where posters depicting queues of refugees are deployed to incite anti-immigrant feelings, that Bohuslav Martinů’s opera The Greek Passion stings with … Continue reading

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Last Rites: Puccini meets Stravinsky in Leeds

The Rite of Spring/ Gianni Schicchi Phoenix Dance Theatre, Opera North, Leeds Grand Theatre, 16th February 2019 Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring famously caused a riot at its 1913 premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Demonstrations disrupted the performance, … Continue reading

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Murder on the dance floor: an underwhelming Masked Ball from Opera North

Verdi: Un ballo in maschera ** Opera North, Leeds Grand Theatre, 3rd February 2018 If you had received an invitation to a masked ball at which there turned out to be no masks and no dancing, it’s understandable you’d feel … 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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Plums and turkeys: a musical voyage around 2016

Most people I know cannot wait to see the back of 2016. But in the year in which Brexit, Trump and the Grim Reaper were the big winners, I admit to having had a terrific twelve months. A whirl of … Continue reading

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