A stellar Damnation de Faust in Manchester

By Rohan Shotton, 12 February 2019

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“utterly convincing as gleefully sardonic tempter and troubled academic”

Reviewed at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 10 February 2019

Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust

Sir Mark Elder, Conductor

David Butt Philip, Faust

Rachel Kelly, Marguerite

Laurent Naouri, Méphistophélès

David Soar, Brander

The Hallé

The Hallé Choir

The Hallé Children's Choir

Trebles of the Hallé Youth Training Choir

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

Boston Doodle Dandy: Boston Lyric Opera presents La Fille du régiment

Kevin Wells, 1st May

Very few singers can hold an audience in the palm of their hand the way Brenda Rae as Marie does in this rollicking frolic.

****1

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

Deep into the American psyche: Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men

Hilary Stroh, 1st May

Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

The triumph of virtue: Rossini’s Cenerentola in Brisbane

Sandra Bowdler, 29th April

Margarita Gritskova leads a fine ensemble performance of Rossini’s most under-appreciated opera by Opera Queensland.

****1

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Rohan Shotton

Rohan has reviewed concerts and opera across the UK and Europe, but chiefly in Manchester, where he enjoys conducting and playing percussion and piano. He works as a hospital doctor, having studied in St Andrews and Manchester, and tweets as @RohanShotton.