John Butt and the OAE celebrate Handel's Solomon

Helen Charlston and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

John Butt conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

By Roy Westbrook, 13 October 2025

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Charlston’s formidable singing had all the power and authority it needed for the legendary King”

Reviewed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 12 October 2025

Handel, Solomon

John Butt, Conductor

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Nardus Williams, Soprano

Helen Charlston, Mezzo-soprano

Hugo Hymas, Tenor

Florian Störtz, Bass

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas et Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău

Peter Quantrill, 11th June

Young voices shine in Tchaikovsky's last opera in a new and rustic updating by Moldovan director Slava Sambriș.

****1

McVicar’s Figaro celebrates its 20th Royal Opera anniversary

Dominic Lowe, 8th June

While this revival is imperfect, the Cherubino of Svetlina Stoyanova proves a marvel to hear.

***11

More reviews...

Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.

“Virtue only makes a monarch great”: Butt and the OAE celebrate Handel's Solomon