A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău

Valentina Naforniţă (Iolanta)

Dumitru Mîțu (Vaudémont) and Valentina Naforniţă (Iolanta)

Alexei Botnarciuc (René), Dumitru Mîțu (Vaudémont) and Andrey Zhilikhovsky (Robert)

Alexei Botnarciuc (René), Valentina Naforniţă (Iolanta) and Vitaly Machunsky (Ibn-Hakia)

By Peter Quantrill, 15 June 2026

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“a feast of fine Slavic singing”

Reviewed at Bucharest National Opera House, Bucharest on 11 June 2026

Tchaikovsky, Iolanta

Chişinău National Opera

Cristian Spătaru, Conductor

Slava Sambriș, Director

Valentina Naforniţă, Iolanta

Dumitru Mîțu, Vaudémont

Andrey Zhilikhovsky, Robert

Alexei Botnarciuc, King René

Alexandra Procopovici, Brigitta

Tatiana Luchian, Laura

Victoria Istratuc, Martha

Vadim Ceban, Alméric

Gheorghe Severin, Bertrand

Vitaly Machunsky, Ibn-Hakia

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

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

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas and 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

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

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

Comic overkill stunts Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Grange Festival

Mark Pullinger, 7th June

Despite excellent vocal performances, David Alden’s production of Giulio Cesare in Egitto aims at irreverence but overplays the comedy.

***11

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Peter Quantrill

Peter Quantrill is a regular contributor to Gramophone, The Strad and other journals. Recent programme notes have been published by the Salzburg and Edinburgh festivals, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Ballet. He also writes about music and musicians for many record labels including Eloquence, Delphian, Signum, Danacord and Brilliant Classics. Once unplugged from his hi-fi, he can generally be found in a London concert hall or at the cricket, and he tweets (sporadically) @PeterQuantrill.

A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău to open the Bucharest Opera Festival