Tag Archives: Robert Murray

Hot ice and strange snow: an unseasonal return for Carsen’s bed-hopping Dream

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Mark Pullinger

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream **** English National Opera, 1st March 2018 Heading to the Coliseum for A Midsummer Night’s Dream amid snow and ice is a disconcerting prospect – “hot ice and strange snow” indeed. Forget wild thyme blowing and substitute … Continue reading →

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All that glitters: Miskimmon’s hyperactive Semele opens Garsington’s season

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Mark Pullinger

Handel: Semele *** Garsington Opera, 1st June 2017 “Endless pleasure” could almost be the anthem of opera festivals up and down the country, accompanied by images of long interval picnics and rolling lawns basking beneath golden late afternoon sun. Garsington … Continue reading →

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Signed off with an orchestral flourish: Written on Skin at the Barbican

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

Benjamin: Written on Skin ***** Mahler CO/Benjamin, Barbican, 19th March 2016 There is no doubt that George Benjamin’s opera Written on Skin is a modern masterpiece. Since its 2012 première at Aix-en-Provence, it has conquered the world. Shorn of Katie Mitchell’s … Continue reading →

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Shorn of excess exoticism: Ailyn Bozok’s Lakmé at Holland Park

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Delibes: Lakmé *** Opera Holland Park, 9th July 2015 Ailyn Bozok is used to working on limited means. Her Grimeborn Werther last summer – done with a piano, a handful of singers and a few drapes – was a model of minimalism yet … Continue reading →

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That sinking feeling: ENO’s Pirates of Penzance scuppered at the Coliseum

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance ** English National Opera, 9th May 2015 In many ways, it seemed a natural choice. Mike Leigh has long been a champion of Gilbert and Sullivan, his love for the Savoy Operas epitomised in his … Continue reading →

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