Hell is oneself: Don Giovanni returns in heavenly form

By Matthew Rye, 01 July 2018

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“Kwieceń’s musically pointed portrayal of the character’s fall... was rare in inviting pity”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 29 June 2018

Mozart, Don Giovanni

The Royal Opera

Marc Minkowski, Conductor

Kasper Holten, Director

Es Devlin, Set Designer

Anja Vang Kragh, Costume Designer

Mariusz Kwiecień, Don Giovanni

Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Donna Anna

Hrachuhí Bassénz, Donna Elvira

Chen Reiss, Zerlina

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Leporello

Pavol Breslik, Don Ottavio

Anatoli Sivko, Masetto

Sir Willard White, The Commendatore

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

Two funerals and a bedding at the Linbury Theatre

Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

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.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

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Matthew Rye

Matthew read music at Oxford and worked in music journalism for 30 years as a writer, critic and editor. He wrote numerous programme and CD booklet notes, spent 13 years as a Daily Telegraph critic, worked at BBC Music Magazine and was reviews editor of The Strad. He also wrote for The Wagner Journal and Opera and blogged at ferneklang.blogspot.co.uk. He was general editor of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell Illustrated, 2007) and was the author of a new series of eBooks, Masterpieces of Music (Erudition).

Hell is oneself: Don Giovanni returns to the Royal Opera in heavenly form