Handel’s Arminio: a Rhineland rebel firing Baroque blanks

Gabrielė Kupšytė (Arminio) and Sarah Dufresne (Tusnelda)

Sarah Dufresne (Tusnelda)

Kamilla Dunstan (Ramise), Isabelle Peters (Sigismondo) and Sarah Dufresne (Tusnelda)

Gabrielė Kupšytė (Arminio)

By Mark Pullinger, 21 April 2023

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“Gabrielė Kupšytė’s amber-tinted mezzo impressed in the title role”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House: Linbury Theatre, London on 20 April 2023

Handel, Arminio

The Royal Opera

André Callegaro, Conductor

Mathilda du Tillieul McNicol, Director

Noemi Daboczi, Set Designer, Costume Designer

DM Wood, Lighting Designer

Early Opera Company Orchestra

Gabrielė Kupšytė, Arminio

Sarah Dufresne, Tusnelda

Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, Segeste

Michael Gibson, Varo

Isabelle Peters, Sigismondo

Kamilla Dunstan, Ramise

Kamohelo Tsotetsi, Tullio

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.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

Ermonela Jaho returns in triumph to The Royal Opera’s Traviata

Mark Valencia, 8th January

Richard Eyre’s 32-year-old production is rarely out of The Royal Opera’s repertoire for more than a few months at a time, but this particular revival proves very special.

*****

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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.