Embodying a range of iconic female characters from history, literature and song — both the ‘good’ and the ‘not-so-good’ — Susan Graham delivered a wonderfully suave and entertaining performance before a delighted Wigmore Hall audience.
Category: Reviews
The Marriage of Figaro in Montpellier
Perfection. A seldom used term in critiques of opera performances. There it was, almost (and will be, maybe).
Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio
Based on performances given in Summer 2010 at the Lucerne Festival, this recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio is an admirable recording that captures the vitality of the work as conducted by Claudio Abbado.
Stanis?aw Moniuszko: Flis
Stanis?aw Moniuszko (1819-1872) was one of the most popular composers of his day in Poland, and of the many works he wrote for the stage, two are performed from time to time, Halka (1848) and Strazny dwÛr [The Haunted Manor] (1865).
Stanis?aw Moniuszko: Pie?ni Songs
The Polish alto Jadwiga RappÈ is a familiar voice in various stage and concert works, and the recent release of a selection of songs by Stanis?aw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is an opportunity to hear her performing artsongs.
St. Louis in Fine Festival Form
Forget about picking a desert island opera, I want Opera Theatre of St. Louis as my desert island opera company.
Les Troyens, Royal Opera House London
A sensational Les Troyens at the Royal Opera House, London. Berlioz, who understood theatrical gestures so well, builds his opera around the most audacious dramatic device in ancient history: the Trojan Horse.
Dr Dee, ENO
First staged at Manchester’s 2011 international festival, Dr Dee
is a theatrical work based on the life of Renaissance cosmographer and
charlatan, John Dee.
Miah Persson, Wigmore Hall
At the Wigmore Hall, there’s long been a tradition of Swedish song. We’ve heard many of the greats, Anne Sofie von Otter, Barbara Bonney and others. Miah Persson and Roger Vignoles are in this constellation.
Billy Budd, ENO
Billy Budd, foretopman — and self-styled ‘King of the Birds’ — may yearn for premonition to captain of the mizzen top, but there few spirits that fly afloat or soar in David Alden’s dark, oppressive new production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd.