Performer: Jacopo Spirei

Stricken by illness, the French version of Donizetti’s masterpiece is somewhat disappointing.

Buxton International Festival presents Rossini's exhilarating La donna del lago with fine singing, but it is undermined by Jacopo Spirei's staging. 

A bland staging: at the end what really emerged was Rossini’s glorious music, its intelligent construction and perfect beauty.

In the Brokeback Mountain, Wuorinen's  powerfully depicts the stern landscapes, the omnipresent menace, the desolate life of the characters and their awkward interactions.

Propora's Mitridate at Schloss Schwetzingen lacks dramatic sense (blame librettist Cibber and director Spirei). But exciting music strongly delivered makes a case for more Porpora in the repertoire.

Not a particularly revealing Falstaff, but a pleasing performance though. Maybe one would have expected something of greater impact from a festival like this one, but that goal had already accomplished by Graham Vick with his Stiffelio the night before...