Final outing for the Royal Opera's fusty Hoffmann

Par Mark Pullinger, 08 novembre 2016

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“Vittorio Grigòlo... his bright tenor leaping across the footlights with clarion ease”

Critique faite à Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Londres, le 7 novembre 2016

Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann

The Royal Opera

Evelino Pidò, Direction

John Schlesinger, Mise en scène

William Dudley, Décors

Maria Björnson, Costumes

Vittorio Grigolo, Hoffmann

Kate Lindsey, Nicklausse

Thomas Hampson, Lindorf

Sofia Fomina, Olympia

Christine Rice, Giulietta

Sonya Yoncheva, Antonia

Olga Sabadoch, Stella

Jeremy White, Luther

David Junghoon Kim, Nathanaël

Charles Rice, Hermann

Vincent Ordonneau, Andrès, Pitichinaccio, Cochenille, Frantz

Yuriy Yurchuk, Peter Schlémil

Eric Halfvarson, Crespel

Catherine Carby, Voix de la mère d'Antonia

Christophe Mortagne, Spalanzani

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Richard Jones’ clunky Samson et Dalila returns to Covent Garden

Dominic Lowe, 13th May

With Aigul Akhmetshina and Seokjong Baek in the title roles, there are reasons to be optimistic, but The Royal Opera’s revival of Richard Jones’ production is a mixed bag.

***11

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

Two funerals and a bedding at the Linbury Theatre

Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

Plus de critiques...

Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A final outing for the Royal Opera's lavish but fusty Tales of Hoffmann