Neue Kritikenmehr...
WNO tackles Vêpres but the vocal fireworks fail to ignite
David Pountney completes his “Verdi trilogy” for the company but although his staging has fluidity, it lacks an explosive ending... and the vocal performances disappoint.
A White House Rigoletto with some impressive voices
Welsh National Opera brought a cast of strong voices to Birmingham for a production of Rigoletto intriguingly set in the White House of the 1960s.
A thrilling Don Giovanni at Welsh National Opera
A strong cast take us to the brink of damnation in Welsh National Opera’s revival of Don Giovanni.
Natalya Romaniw an imperious Tatyana
The cavernous Mayflower pit eats singers for breakfast and only Natalya Romaniw’s full-blooded Tatyana escaped its jaws unmarked
The Magic Flute given Magritte makeover by WNO
Lothar Koenigs conducts a stylish, colourful Magic Flute inspired by Magritte.
Welsh National Opera's Butterfly at the Mayflower, Southampton
35 years and many revivals after it was first seen, the late Joachim Herz’s version of Madam Butterfly (“Madama” spelt without the “a” here) is still going. For WNO’s themed series of “Free Spirits”, Caroline Chaney took on the revival director’s mantle. The result was a reliable production lacking in originality but not in warmth.