Tag Archives: Puccini

Tears on the picnic lawn: Madama Butterfly makes her bow at the Glyndebourne Festival

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Mark Pullinger

Puccini: Madama Butterfly *** Glyndebourne, 19th May 2018 It’s easy to get sucked into the sentimentality of Madama Butterfly. Puccini’s luscious score, infused with Japanese pastel colours, showers the audience in orchestral cherry blossom and the story of Cio-Cio-San’s blind devotion … Continue reading →

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Time-travelling back to 1900: an eye-popping Tosca in Rome

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Mark Pullinger

Puccini: Tosca **** Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, 7th April 2018 For decades, “historically-informed performance practice” has given audiences the chance to hear music as the composer may have heard it. But in terms of opera, why not what the composer saw? Alessandro … Continue reading →

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Brooding Tabarro and a humdinger of a Gianni Schicchi from ETO

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Mark Pullinger

Puccini: Il tabarro & Gianni Schicchi **** English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire, 2nd March 2018 Rip the beating heart from Puccini’s Il trittico and, surprisingly enough, you’re still left with a very satisfying evening. The full triptych is long and cannot squeeze comfortably … Continue reading →

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Broken wings: Ermonela Jaho a devastating Madama Butterfly at Covent Garden

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Mark Pullinger

Puccini: Madama Butterfly **** The Royal Opera, 27th March 2017 Ermonela Jaho sure likes to put herself (and us) through the emotional wringer on Covent Garden’s stage. Her characters usually meet with a sticky end: Violetta and Mimì both succumb … Continue reading →

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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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