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Clunky lyrics hamper Noah Mosley's Aurora at Bury Court Opera

By Mark Valencia, 22 February 2019

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Reviewed at The Barn at Bury Court, Farnham on 21 February 2019

Mosley, Aurora

Bury Court Opera

Noah Mosley, Conductor

Aylin Bozok, Director

Holly Pigott, Set Designer

Isolde Roxby, Aurora

Dominic Bowe, Prince

Katherine Aitken, Wild Woman

Andrew Tipple, King

Jean-Max Lattemann, Big Mountain Witch

Magid El-Bushra, Prince, Owl

Ben Pickersgill, Lighting Designer

A darkly atmospheric Turn of the Screw from Bury Court Opera

Mark Valencia, 9th March

As the Governess Alison Rose was the ideal suffering soprano, her eyes an imbroglio of psychological disturbances.

****1

Shorn of excess exoticism: Lakmé at Holland Park

Mark Pullinger, 9th July

Ailyn Bozok's minimlaist production of Delibes' Lakmé at Opera Holland Park contains much tender beauty and is carried by fine musical performances.

***11

Werther: A wonderful tale of woe

Charlotte Valori, 20th August

Aylin Bozok's modern and minimalist Werther, beautifully realised and superbly acted with the innovative addition of a silent character, is utterly heartbreaking.

****1

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***11

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.