Germany Vivaldi: Orlando Furioso, Frankfurter Opern und Museumorchester, Felice Venanzoni (conductor), Opernhaus Frankfurt, 14.2.2014 (JMI)
Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso: Taking the Humourous Path
Opera & Ballet
Collected opera and ballet reviews
Holten’s Don Giovanni Lacks Magic and Comedy
Mozart, Don Giovanni (in a new production by Kaspar Holten): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Broadcast to the Odeon Cinema, Chelmsford, Essex. 12.2.2014. (JPr)
ENO’s Rigoletto Exposes Victorian Morality’s Darker Side
United Kingdom Verdi, Rigoletto: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera/Graeme Jenkins (conductor, London Coliseum, London, 13.2.2014. (JPr)
English Touring Opera Triumphs with Tippett’s King Priam
United Kingdom Tippett, King Priam: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of English Touring Opera / Michael Rosewell (conductor), Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 13.2.2014 (MB)
Misconceived Approach to Manon Lescaut Can’t Hide its Musical Power Entirely
United Kingdom Puccini, Manon Lescaut: (UK Production Premiere) Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Lothar Koenigs (conductor), Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 8.2.2014 (GPu)
Retrospection and Humour in Pina Bausch Dance Piece
United Kingdom Various Composers, 1980 – A Piece by Pina Bausch: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Sadler’s Wells, London, 11.02.2014 (JO’D)
Handel’s Theodora: a Simply Terrific Evening
United Kingdom Handel Theodora, HWV68 (1750) Soloists, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, The English Concert, Harry Bickett (conductor), Barbican Hall, London, 8.2.2014. (CC)
Charm and Grace Abound in Mid-Wales Opera’s Acis and Galatea
United Kingdom Handel, Acis and Galatea (production premiere): Soloists, Chorus and Brecon Baroque / Nicholas Cleobury (conductor) Richard Burton Theatre, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 30.1.2014 (GPu)