This varied, demanding programme indisputably marked soprano Louise Alder as a name to watch.
Year: 2014
Luke Bedford: Through His Teeth, Linbury, Royal Opera House
Can this be the best British opera in years? Luke Bedford’s Through His Teeth at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre is exceptional. Drop everything and go.
Powder Her Face, ENO
As one descends the steel steps into the cavernous bunker of Ambika P3, one seems about to enter rather insalubrious realms — just right one might imagine, then, for an opera which delves into the depths of the seedier side of celebrity life.
IphigÈnie Fascinates in the Pfalz
Kaiserslautern’s Pfalztheater has produced a tantalizing realization of Gluck’s IphigÈnie en Aulide, characterized by intriguing staging, appealing designs, and best of all, superlative musical standards.
ROH presents Cavalli’s L’Ormindo at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London
Never thought I’d say it but……
Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, Wigmore Hall, London
Celebrating the 80th birthday of one of the UK’s greatest composers (if not the greatest), this concert was an intriguing, and not always stimulating, mix. Birtwistle with Carter makes sense, but Birtwistle with Adams does not – or at least only within the remit of the concert series. The concert was actually entitled “Nash Inventions: American and British Masterworks, including an 80th Birthday Tribute to Sir Harrison Birtwistle” and was the final concert in the “Inventions” series.
Requiem for a Lost Opera Company
On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, General Director Ian Campbell of San Diego Opera announced that the company would go out of business at the end of this season. The next day the company performed their long-planned Verdi Requiem with a stellar cast including soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Piotr Beczala, and bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.
The Met’s Werther a tasty mix of singing, staging, acting and orchestral splendor
Visual elements in Richard Eyre’s striking production offset Massenet’s melodic shortcomings