Birtwistle's Minotaur at Covent Garden: Impressive but sterile

By David Karlin, 18 January 2013

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Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 17 January 2013

Birtwistle, The Minotaur

The Royal Opera

Ryan Wigglesworth, Conductor

Stephen Langridge, Director

Christine Rice, Ariadne

Johan Reuter, Theseus

Sir John Tomlinson, The Minotaur

Andrew Watts, Snake Priestess

Elisabeth Meister, Ker

Alan Oke, Hiereus

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David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

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Mark Pullinger, 29th January

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****1

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Mark Valencia, 8th January

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*****

Turandot drowned in an orchestral tsunami at The Royal Opera

David Karlin, 15th December

Andrei Șerban’s 40 year old take on Puccini's tale of the ice princess largely stands the test of time, but Netrebko and Eyvazov are short of their best form.

***11

Handel’s Ariodante returns home to Covent Garden

Roy Westbrook, 9th December

Jetske Mijnssen’s house debut sees Handel’s opera transposed to a modern-day palace, with Emily D'Angelo angelic in the title role.

****1

The Royal Opera stages its first Makropulos Case

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Katie Mitchell wheels out her tired old tropes in The Makropulos Case, redeemed by its musical performances.

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David Karlin

David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. You can contact him from this link.