Artiste: Robin Norton-Hale

Judith Weir's cryptic folk opera lacks the narrative propulsion necessary to enthral an audience, and without resolution there is no catharsis.

Harmonious images and geometric designs frame an effective staging and well sung performance of Monteverdi's last opera.

OperaUpClose have set their version of Verdi’s classic in the 1920s, with some beautiful period costumes and a few prettily observed production details It’s a big story on a very small scale.

Having arrived earlier than I anticipated for this evening’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème by OperaUpClose, I took the opportunity to read through the libretto, helpfully provided in the form of a thin volume available for purchase. When I organise concerts, I often provide texts so that unclear diction is better understood, but this evening I didn’t look at the libretto once.

How much wine can a cast pretend to drink over the course of one production? If such a record has been set Adam Spreadbury-Maher, Ben Cooper and Robin Norton-Hale’s Don Giovanni presents a good challenge. For much of this production characters, music and set seemed drunk on wine and melodrama, high on the drug of their own confident style – but all were ultimately weakened by their instability.