A Perfect Masterpiece: Glass's The Perfect American in Brisbane

By Paul Selar, 24 September 2014

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“ the unedifying portrayal of Walt, the man behind the art of a mouse, a duck and the Disney empire”

Reviewed at QPAC: Concert Hall, Brisbane on 20 September 2014

Glass, The Perfect American

Opera Queensland

Gareth Jones, Conductor

Phelim McDermott, Director

Dan Potra, Set Designer

Christopher Purves, Walt Disney

Cheryl Barker, Hazel George

Marie McLaughlin, Lilian Disney

Kanen Breen, Andy Warhol

Douglas McNicol, Roy

Opera Queensland Chorus

Queensland Symphony Orchestra

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Roy Westbrook, 13th August

The music plays second fiddle to Australian circus company Circa in Yaron Lifschitz’s production of Gluck's great opera.

***11

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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

The Tao of listening to – and with – Philip Glass

Kurt Gottschalk, 1st April

An engaging and inventive piece of theatre (sometimes tiringly so) that is, at least half the time anyway, about its titular subject.

***11

English National Opera revives Akhnaten to spectacular effect

Mark Valencia, 11th March

Philip Glass' operatic take on Ancient Egyptian history returns to the Coliseum in Phelim McDermott's hypnotic production, complete with jugglers...

*****

Star-studded gloom in Kevin Puts' The Hours at the Met

Robert Levine, 22nd November

Is it possible to have a minor success on every level? Kevin Puts' The Hours underwhelms in its world premiere production at the Metropolitan Opera.

***11

New-minted rather than dusted down: ENO opens season with Satyagraha

Mark Valencia, 14th October

Phelim McDermott's popular staging of Satyagraha, which verges on the lush and the voluptuous, is revived to open English National Opera's season.

****1

More reviews...

Paul Selar

Also known as 'OperaChaser', Paul's passion for attending opera in performance spans 30 years. With a background in architecture and an unstoppable need to travel, Paul's foray into the world of reviewing started as Opera Australia's inaugural Critic-in-Training. He currently blogs at operachaser.blogspot.com.au.