Chills and thrills from Pappano and the Czech Philharmonic

Ángeles Blancas Gulín and Sir Antonio Pappano

Víkingur Ólafsson

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the Czech Philharmonic and Prague Philharmonic Choir

By Frank Kuznik, 28 November 2025

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“Ángeles Blancas Gulín made the strongest impression as a fierce, distraught mother of the prisoner”

Reviewed at Rudolfinum: Dvořák Hall, Prague on 27 November 2025

Dallapiccola, Il prigioniero (Czech premiere)

Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat major "Emperor", Op.73

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Czech Philharmonic

Prague Philharmonic Choir

Brian Mulligan, Il prigioniero (The Prisoner)

Ángeles Blancas Gulín, La madre (The Mother)

Valentyn Dytiuk, Il carceriere (The Gaoler)/ Il grande Inquisitore (The Grand Inquisitor)

Simon Halsey, Choirmaster / chorus director

Víkingur Ólafsson, Piano

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

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Romeo Castellucci directs a new Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 26th April

The Italian director makes his long-awaited Italian operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala in a production which perfectly mirrors Debussy’s most enigmatic creation.

****1

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.