Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de perles ***
English National Opera, 19th October 2016
After Zurga torches his village so he can rescue the lovers Nadir and Leïla from their death sentences during the ensuing panic, billowing “smoke” filled the Coliseum stage so enthusiastically that Jacques Imbrailo was all but engulfed. It hung thickly in the air for the chorus’ curtain call. The temperature of this Pearl Fishers revival had needed raising, though in truth it was the first scene of Act III, where Zurga’s jealousy is rekindled when Leïla pleads for Nadir to be spared, that the performance eventually caught fire.
Claudia Boyle (Leïla)
© Robbie Jack
Read the full review on Bachtrack.