Vivaldi's Griselda launches Opera Settecento

By Nahoko Gotoh, 20 September 2014

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Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 18 September 2014

Vivaldi, Griselda, RV 718

Opera Settecento

Thomas Foster, Conductor

Hilary Summers, Mezzo-soprano

Andrew Watts, Countertenor

Erica Eloff, Soprano

Ronan Busfield, Tenor

Kiandra Howarth, Mezzo-soprano

Tom Verney, Countertenor

Hidden princes: Hasse's Demetrio from Opera Settecento

Dominic Lowe, 21st September

The enterprising forces of Opera Settecento brought the nearly forgotten music of Hasse's Demetrio to the Cadogan Hall, and in the process showed that this composer can easily match his more popular contemporaries.

****1

Handel's Elpidia unearthed by Opera Settecento

Dominic Lowe, 31st March

A pasticcio not seen since 1725, Elpidia contains some excellent music... even if it isn't by Handel!

****1

Cut-and-shut Baroque: Handel's Catone in Utica

Charlotte Valori, 17th March

Metastasio's tale of noble Roman suicide was made into a pasticcio by Handel in 1732: and, after 283 years of silence, returned to the London stage as part of the 2015 London Handel Festival.

***11

Lucio Papirio bei den digitalen Händel-Festspielen Halle

Jens Klier, 30th May

Zur Aufführung gelangte ein neuzeitlich premiertes Opern-Pasticcio, dem das junge Ensemble mit innewohnender Entdeckerlust und stimmlichen Fähigkeiten zu einem – damals noch versagten – Erfolg verhalf.

****1

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

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Nahoko Gotoh

Nahoko is a UK-based Japanese music journalist with a background in musicology. She writes regularly for various Japanese media including Ongaku no tomo and Mostly Classic magazines.

Opera Settecento launches new opera venture with Vivaldi's Griselda