A solid Solomon by Viva Voce at Auckland Town Hall

By Simon Holden, 19 November 2012

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at Auckland Town Hall: Great Hall, Auckland on 18 November 2012

Handel, Solomon (semi-staged)

Viva Voce

John Rosser, Conductor

Sarah Castle, Solomon

Morag McDowell, Queen of Sheba

Emma Fraser, Queen of Sheba

Andrew Grenon, Zadok

Kieran Rayner, Levite

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Parsifal without the hocus-pocus in Lower Bavaria

Peter Quantrill, 4th April

A colourful, revue-style production dispels the clouds of mystique surrounding Wagner's last opera.

****1

More reviews...

Simon Holden

Simon is an operaphile based in Auckland, New Zealand. He wrote his dissertation on Japanese popular music. With a background in piano and classical music retail, he spends his time attending as much opera or vocal concert as he can and blogs at irishenceaway.blogspot.com.