Jean Cocteau’s 1950 OrphÈe – and Philip Glass’s chamber opera based on the film – are so closely intertwined it should not be a surprise that this new production for English National Opera often seems unable to distinguish the two. There is never a shred of ambiguity that cinema and theatre are like mirrors, a recurring feature of this production; and nor is there much doubt that this is as opera noir it gets.
Year: 2019
Rapt audience at Dutch National Opera’s riveting Walküre
“Don’t miss this final chance – ever! – to see Die Walküre”, urges the Dutch National Opera website.
Christmas at St George’s Windsor
Christmas at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with the Choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, James Vivian, organist and conductor. New from Hyperion, this continues their series of previous recordings with this Choir. The College of St George, founded in 1348, is unusual in that it is a Royal Peculiar, a parish under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, rather than the diocese.
Sarah Wegener sings Strauss and Jurowski’s shattering Mahler
A little under a month ago, I reflected on Vladimir Jurowski’s tempi in Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’. That willingness to range between extremes, often within the same work, was a very striking feature of this second concert, which also fielded a Mahler symphony – this time the Fifth. But we also had a Wagner prelude and Strauss songs to leave some of us scratching our heads.
Manon Lescaut in San Francisco
Of the San Francisco Opera Manon Lescauts (in past seasons Leontyne Price, Mirella Freni, Karita Mattila among others, all in their full maturity) the latest is Armenian born Parisian finished soprano Lianna Haroutounian in her role debut. And Mme. Haroutounian is surely the finest of them all.
A lukewarm performance of Berlioz’s RomÈo et Juliette from the LSO and Tilson Thomas
A double celebration was the occasion for a packed house at the Barbican: the 150th
anniversary of Berlioz’s birth, alongside Michael Tilson Thomas’s fifty-year association with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Mahler’s Third Symphony launches Prague Symphony Orchestra’s UK tour
The Anvil in Basingstoke was the first location for a strenuous seven-concert UK tour by the Prague Symphony Orchestra – a venue-hopping trip, criss-crossing the country from Hampshire to Wales, with four northern cities and a pit-stop in London spliced between Edinburgh and Nottingham.
From Darkness into Light: Antoine Brumel’s Complete Lamentations of Jeremiah for Good Friday
As a musicologist, particularly when working in the field of historical documents, one is always hoping to discover that unknown score, letter, household account book – even a shopping list or scribbled memo – which will reveal much about the composition, performance or context of a musical work which might otherwise remain embedded within or behind the inscrutable walls of the past.
Rigoletto past, present and future: a muddled production by Christiane Lutz for Glyndebourne Touring Opera
Charlie Chaplin was a master of slapstick whose rag-to-riches story – from workhouse-resident clog dancer to Hollywood legend with a salary to match his status – was as compelling as the physical comedy that he learned as a member of Fred Karno’s renowned troupe.
Bampton Classical Opera’s Young Singers’ Competition – Winner Announced
Bampton Classical Opera is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2019 Young Singers’ Competition is soprano Lucy Anderson. The runner-up prize has been awarded jointly to soprano Daniella Sicari and mezzo-soprano Carolyn Holt. The winner of the accompanists’ prize, a new category since 2017, is Dylan Perez, who accompanied Lucy Anderson.