“Gloire à DiDonato”: Les Troyens in Strasbourg

By Mark Pullinger, 18 April 2017

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“DiDonato... is a great tragedienne”

Reviewed at Palais de la Musique et des Congrès, salle Érasme, Strasbourg on 17 April 2017

Berlioz, Les Troyens (The Trojans) (Concert performance)

John Nelson, Conductor

Michael Spyres, Énée

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Cassandre, Ghost of Cassandre

Hanna Hipp, Anna

Marianne Crebassa, Ascagne

Joyce DiDonato, Didon

Stéphane Degout, Chorèbe, Ghost of Chorèbe

Nicolas Courjal, Narbal

Agnieszka Sławińska, Hecuba

Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Helenus, Hylas

Cyrille Dubois, Iopas

Jean Teitgen, Mercure, Ghost of Hector

Philippe Sly, Panthée

Bertrand Grunewald, Priam

Chœur de l'Opéra national du Rhin

Chœur de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg

Badischer Staatsopernchor Karlsruhe

Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas et Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****1

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău

Peter Quantrill, 11th June

Young voices shine in Tchaikovsky's last opera in a new and rustic updating by Moldovan director Slava Sambriș.

****1

McVicar’s Figaro celebrates its 20th Royal Opera anniversary

Dominic Lowe, 8th June

While this revival is imperfect, the Cherubino of Svetlina Stoyanova proves a marvel to hear.

***11

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

“Gloire à DiDonato”: Les Troyens takes Strasbourg by storm