Empty hunger: Bieito’s Carmen returns to ENO

By Dominic Lowe, 31 January 2020

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“Panikkar’s total absorption into the role was nothing short of thrilling”

Reviewed at The London Coliseum, London on 29 January 2020

Bizet, Carmen

English National Opera

Valentina Peleggi, Conductor

Calixto Bieito, Director

Alfons Flores, Set Designer

Mercè Paloma, Costume Designer

Justina Gringytė, Carmen

Sean Panikkar, Don José

Ashley Riches, Escamillo

Nardus Williams, Micaëla

Keel Watson, Zuniga

Alex Otterburn, Moralès

Ellie Laugharne, Frasquita

Samantha Price, Mercédès

Matthew Durkan, Le Dancaïre

Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Le Remendado

Jamie Manton, Revival Director

Bruno Poet, Lighting Designer

English National Opera Chorus

English National Opera Orchestra

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

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Mark Valencia, 20th November

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****1

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*****

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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

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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.