A Serse like no other from Il pomo d'oro

By Stephen Pritchard, 27 October 2018

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“inspirational conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev, is a man on springs”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 26 October 2018

Handel, Serse (Xerxes) (Concert performance)

Maxim Emelyanychev, Conductor, Harpsichord

Franco Fagioli, Serse

Inga Kalna, Romilda

Vivica Genaux, Arsamene

Francesca Aspromonte, Atalanta

Delphine Galou, Amastre

Biagio Pizzuti, Elviro

Andreas Wolf, Ariodate

Il Pomo d'Oro

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

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

Deep into the American psyche: Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men

Hilary Stroh, 1st May

Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****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

Boston Doodle Dandy: Boston Lyric Opera presents La Fille du régiment

Kevin Wells, 1st May

Very few singers can hold an audience in the palm of their hand the way Brenda Rae as Marie does in this rollicking frolic.

****1

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

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Stephen Pritchard

Stephen Pritchard began singing as a treble at the age of eight and progressed to become a tenor in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, the Gibbons Consort and now the English Chamber Choir. Writing about music has been at the core of his 40-year career in journalism, chiefly at the Observer. He has been known to play a pretty mean jazz double bass.

A Serse like no other from Maxim Emelyanychev and Il pomo d'oro