An unexpected bride in ENO’s Duke Bluebeard's Castle

John Relyea (Bluebeard)

Leo Bill (Prologue), Crispin Lord (Judith), John Relyea (Bluebeard)

Crispin Lord (Judith), John Relyea (Bluebeard), ENO Chorus

Leo Bill (Prologue)

By Dominic Lowe, 22 March 2024

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“treads the line between adherence to the ideas behind Bartók’s piece and dramatic effect”

Reviewed at The London Coliseum, London on 21 March 2024

Bartók, Duke Bluebeard's Castle (Sung in Hungarian)

English National Opera

Lidiya Yankovskaya, Conductor

Joe Hill-Gibbins, Director

Rosanna Vize, Set Designer

English National Opera Orchestra

John Relyea, Bluebeard

Jennifer Johnston, Judith

Leo Bill, Prologue of the Bard

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.

An unexpected bride in English National Opera’s Duke Bluebeard's Castle