ENO’s 2019-20 season opens by going back to opera’s roots, so to speak, presenting four explorations of the mythical status of that most powerful of musicians and singers, Orpheus.
Olli Mustonen’s Taivaanvalot receives its UK premiere at Wigmore Hall
This recital at Wigmore Hall, by Ian Bostridge, Steven Isserlis and Olli Mustonen was thought-provoking and engaging, but at first glance appeared something of a Chinese menu. And, several re-orderings of the courses plus the late addition of a Hungarian aperitif suggested that the participants had had difficulty in deciding the best order to serve up the dishes.
Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo: laBarocca at Wigmore Hall
Handel’s English pastoral masque Acis and Galatea was commissioned by James Brydges, Earl of Carnavon and later Duke of Chandos, and had it first performance sometime between 1718-20 at Cannons, the stately home on the grand Middlesex estate where Brydges maintained a group of musicians for his chapel and private entertainments.
Gerald Barry’s The Intelligence Park at the ROH’s Linbury Theatre
Walk for 10 minutes or so due north of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and you come to Brunswick Square, home to the Foundling Museum which was established in 1739 by the philanthropist Thomas Coram to care for children lost but lucky.
O19’s Phat Philly Phantasy
It is hard to imagine a more animated, engaging, and musically accomplished night at the Academy of Music than with Opera Philadelphia’s winning new staging of The Love for Three Oranges.
Agrippina: Barrie Kosky brings farce and frolics to the ROH
She makes a virtue of her deceit, her own accusers come to her defence, and her crime brings her reward. Agrippina – great-granddaughter of Augustus Caesar, sister of Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius – might seem to offer those present-day politicians hungry for power an object lesson in how to satisfy their ambition.
Billy Budd in San Francisco
San Francisco Opera’s Billy Budd confirms once again that Britten’s reworking of Melville’s novella is among the great masterpieces of the repertory. It boasted an exemplary cast in an exemplary production, and enlightened conducting.
Vaughan Williams: The Song of Love
From Albion, The Song of Love featuring songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with Kitty Whately, Roderick Williams and pianist William Vann. Albion is unique, treasured by Vaughan Williams devotees for rarely heard repertoire from the composer’s vast output, so don’t expect mass market commercial product. Albion recordings often highlight new perspectives.
Dear Marie Stopes: a thought-provoking chamber opera
“To remove the misery of slave motherhood and the curse of unwanted children, and to secure that every baby is loved before it is born.”
An interview with Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Oxford Lieder Festival’s first Associate Composer
“Trust me, I’m telling you stories …”