Carlo Colombara rides to the Rosenblatt rescue

By Mark Pullinger, 05 March 2015

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Reviewed at Wigmore Hall, London on 4 March 2015

Duparc, L'Invitation au voyage

Duparc, Le Manoir de Rosemonde

Ibert, Chansons de Don Quichotte

Verdi, Simon Boccanegra: Il lacerato spirito

Verdi, Don Carlo: Ella giammai m'amo

Rachmaninov, Aleko (Ves’tábor spit)

Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov: Funeral bell and death of Boris

Carlo Colombara, Bass

Marco Boemi, Piano

Nabucco en el Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima

Gonzalo Tello, 15th May

Para celebrar sus 50 años, el Coro Nacional de Perú lució en todo su esplendor en <em>Nabucco</em> junto a un elenco internacional y bajo la dirección musical de Marco Boemi en una producción con altibajos

**111

A guilty pleasure: Zeffirelli's Aida at La Scala

James Imam, 23rd May

You feel you ought not to approve of such directorial extravagance, but catch yourself being drawn into the grand pageant.

****1

Nucci and Sierra thrill in La Scala's classic Rigoletto

James Imam, 13th January

Leo Nucci visceral animal of the stage has over 500 performances of the role under his belt, and, at the age of 73, he now eats this operatic challenge for breakfast

****1

A Verdian feast in La Scala's full fat Aida

James Imam, 21st February

With elegant sets and superlative musicianship, Verdi came to life in the House where he is revered most. This musical feast will have us licking our lips for some time yet.

*****

Italian blood and thunder in the most operatic of Requiems

Mark Pullinger, 18th May

Hans von Bülow taunted that Verdi’s Requiem was just another of his operas “in ecclesiastical garb’”. It’s difficult to disagree when dispatched with as much operatic fervour as Antonio Pappano mustered here.

****1

An outstanding Verdi Requiem from the Philharmonia and Gatti

David Karlin, 20th April

Every once in a while, I hear a concert that grips me from the first note and doesn’t let go until the very last. Daniele Gatti and the Philharmonia’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall was such a concert.There are some caveats to make: I’m not catholic, I’m not very religious and I’m not particularly steeped in the tradition of liturgical music.

*****

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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.

Uneven recital as Carlo Colombara rides to the Rosenblatt rescue