Rather like the theological principle of the via negativa as a way of discoursing about the divine, it is perhaps easier to say what John Tavener’s last work, Krishna (completed…
Author: Curtis Rogers
An elusive atmosphere and subdued choreography make for an enigmatic Orlando at Longborough
Sinéad O’Neill’s production of Handel’s Orlando, a study in love-induced derangement adapted from Ariosto’s famous poetic epic, paradoxically refrains from replicating the title character’s mania in any frantic choreography and is…
Musically Excellent but Culturally Insensitive Interpretation of Handel’s Julius Caesar in Egypt at the Grange Festival
If Edward Said had written Orientalism today, then David Alden’s production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare for the Grange Festival could be cited as Exhibit A for evidence of the West’s…
Love, life and art remain to the fore in the Grange Festival’s La bohème despite stated political aims
Unlike his operatic forbear, Verdi, or his contemporary in Germany, Wagner, Puccini wasn’t interested in politics, nor are his operas motivated or driven by political issues, despite the implied politics of poverty…
A powerful and moving La fanciulla del West opens Opera Holland Park’s season
Despite its large cast, the drama of La fanciulla del West (1910) is ultimately one of the more intimate of Puccini’s operas, centred on the love triangle between Minnie, owner of the…
Kosky’s Royal Opera House Ring Continues with Incisive Simplicity in Siegfried
Having set up his themes in the previous instalments of the Ring in the Royal Opera’s past two seasons, Barrie Kosky relaxes a little in Siegfried, the cycle’s third part,…
Vivaldi’s Provocative First Opera Given a Sober Interpretation at Venice
Ottone in villa was Vivaldi’s first opera, although premiered not in his native Venice, but at nearby Vicenza in 1713. The title character, Otho, is one of the four Roman…
A Critically Honest Glance of Life in a Venetian Square from Genoa in Wolf-Ferrari’s Il campiello
The ‘little square’ of Wolf-Ferrari’s charming comic opera is one in Venice, as peopled by local characters in a mid-18th century play by Goldoni. It’s as though one of the domestic…
Chelsea Opera Group’s Mascagni Double Bill is a Wonderful Display of Tenor Vocalism
Mascagni’s breakthrough opera Cavalleria rusticana is often now paired with something other than ‘Pag’, but rarely with his own later essay in verismo, Silvano (1895). It’s a similarly terse drama…
A Musically Attractive Account of Leo Duarte’s New Completion of a Fragmentary Handel Opera
In between writing the operas Poro and Ezio, based on libretti by Metastasio, which was unusual for Handel despite the Italian’s being the foremost librettist of the age, the composer…