Everybody loves David: Handel’s Saul at Glyndebourne

By Charlotte Valori, 20 July 2018

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“Markus Brück’s ambitiously dramatic Saul bristles with pent-up rage from the start”

Reviewed at Glyndebourne Opera House, Glyndebourne on 19 July 2018

Handel, Saul

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Laurence Cummings, Conductor

Barrie Kosky, Director

Katrin Lea Tag, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Markus Brück, Saul

Iestyn Davies, David

Allan Clayton, Jonathan

Karina Gauvin, Merab

Anna Devin, Michal

Stuart Jackson, Abner, High Priest, Doeg

John Graham-Hall, Witch of Endor

The Glyndebourne Chorus

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Otto Pichler, Choreography

A deli-cious revival of Rossini’s Il turco in Italia at Glyndebourne

Dominic Lowe, 23rd May

Mariame Clément’s production of Rossini's meta comedy is tightly revived with some excellent singing. Come for the writing tips, stay for the cured meats.

****1

Glyndebourne’s first Tosca: vocally strong but imperfect

David Karlin, 21st May

Ted Huffman brings some interesting ideas to his first Glyndebourne production. Excellent singing is let down by indifferent physical acting.

***11

Glyndebourne revives Michieletto’s Kátya Kabanová

Mark Valencia, 3rd August

Damiano Michieletto’s production of Janáček’s opera breaks a key tenet of high-concept opera: where it should reveal, it obfuscates.

***11

All the world’s a jest: Falstaff returns to Glyndebourne

Mark Pullinger, 23rd July

Richard Jones' 2009 production returns to Glyndebourne after a long absence, but the 1940s comedy scrubs up fresh.

***11

A strong new Figaro opens at Glyndebourne

Dominic Lowe, 29th June

Mariame Clément is a popular director at Glyndebourne, and her new production of Figaro shows her trademark approach to hardhitting comedy.

****1

Glyndebourne's Saul still packs a punch 10 years on

Nick Boston, 8th June

Returning from the original run, Christopher Purves and Iestyn Davies were joined by a strong cast and chorus for a revival of Barrie Kosky's striking production.

*****

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Charlotte Valori

Charlotte Valori read Classics at Christ Church, Oxford. As a classicist, her main interest is Greek tragedy and its reception by later cultures, which has led to a continuing passion for theatre and opera. Charlotte reviews for several online magazines, and won the Bachtrack Opera Award 2015 for Best Written English Review. Follow her on Twitter @operissima.