Tag Archives: Opera Rara

Plums and turkeys: a musical voyage around 2016

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

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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A feast of Rossini as Albina Shagimuratova dazzles in Semiramide

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

Rossini: Semiramide **** Opera Rara, Royal Albert Hall, 4th September 2016 Complete performances of Semiramide are as rare as hen’s teeth. Even at La Fenice – where the opera was given 28 times following its 1823 première, sometimes four nights in … Continue reading →

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Beyond Egmont: a semi-revival for Donizetti’s Le Duc d’Albe

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

Donizetti: Le Duc d’Albe (Opera Rara) European wrangles in Brussels are nothing new. In Donizetti’s Le Duc d’Albe, Brussels is under Spanish rule, Count Egmont has just been beheaded and his daughter, Hélène, is inciting a Flemish revolt. The hot-headed … Continue reading →

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Les Martyrs: Revelatory Donizetti on disc from Opera Rara

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Donizetti: Les Martyrs  When Donizetti’s rarity Poliuto opened the 2015 Glyndebourne Festival a week ago, the music would already have been familiar to a number of audience members. Only last autumn, those operatic archaeologists Opera Rara had put on a … Continue reading →

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Opera Rara: Donizetti’s Les Martyrs a revelation

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Mark Pullinger

Donizetti: Les Martyrs ***** Opera Rara, Royal Festival Hall, 4th November 2014 There is no shortage of rare Donizetti operas set in exotic locations – Emilia di Liverpool, Zoroaida di Granata, Harrison di Accrington (okay, artistic license exercised on that final one) – so … Continue reading →

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