Time for a cut? Jonathan Miller's Barber of Seville returns to ENO

Charles Rice (Figaro) and Simon Bailey (Bartolo)

Anna Devin (Rosina)

The Barber of Seville, Act 1 finale

Innocent Masuku (Almaviva) and Anna Devin (Rosina)

By Dominic Lowe, 14 February 2024

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“an ideal leading lady”

Reviewed at The London Coliseum, London on 12 February 2024

Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia

English National Opera

Roderick Cox, Conductor

Sir Jonathan Miller, Director

Tanya McCallin, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Tom Mannings, Lighting Designer

English National Opera Orchestra

English National Opera Chorus

Peter Relton, Revival Director

Anna Devin, Rosina

Innocent Masuku, Count Almaviva

Charles Rice, Figaro

Simon Bailey, Dr Bartolo

Alastair Miles, Don Basilio

Lesley Garrett, Berta

Patrick Alexander Keefe, Fiorello

ENO’s Mahagonny: biting, bleak, brilliantly executed satire

David Karlin, 16th February

Never has Brecht and Weill’s satire on the inhumanity of man to man been render with such utter darkness; Simon O’Neill heads up a superb cast.

*****

Taken for a ride: an energetic revival of Così fan tutte at ENO

Dominic Lowe, 6th February

English National Opera's revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular production is a blend of spectacle with some first-class singing, with Lucy Crowe emphasising her Mozartian credentials.

****1

Cocteau-esque camp: Alden’s Partenope returns to ENO

Mark Valencia, 20th November

Christopher Alden’s Olivier Award-winning production of Handel’s Partenope returns to the Coliseum, but it's the singing that earns the plaudits.

****1

Dead Man Walking at English National Opera: a superb execution

David Karlin, 1st November

Anneliese Miskimmon's ENO production of Jake Heggie and Terence McNally's tale of crime, repentance, compassion and redemption compels from start to finish.

*****

Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

Mark Valencia, 27th September

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

ENO gives Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots a worthy performance

Nick Boston, 15th February

Musgrave's powerful depiction of a powerful woman at the mercy of male manipulation receives a strong staging from at ENO.

****1

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

Time for a cut? Jonathan Miller's The Barber of Seville returns to English National Opera