A story that deserves to be told: Isango Ensemble's SS Mendi

By David Karlin, 19 April 2019

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Reviewed at Royal Opera House: Linbury Theatre, London on 18 April 2019

Dyantyis, SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill

Isango Ensemble

Mandisi Dyantyis, Conductor

Mark Dornford-May, Director

Lungelo Ngamlana, Choreography

Mannie Manim, Lighting Designer

A Man of Good Hope: powerful and politically charged drama

Timmy Fisher, 16th April

The Insango Ensemble’s fast-paced production is a poingnant reminder of the damage colonialism has inflicted upon Africa

****1

Frauenliebe und -sterben: Kratzer’s triple bill at Staatsoper Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 15th April

Director Tobias Kratzer engineers a haunting pasticcio of Schumann, Bartók and Zemlinsky, tracing the domestic sphere’s shift from romantic surrender to the blood-soaked secrets of a century-spanning house.

****1

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

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David Karlin

David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. You can contact him from this link.

A story that deserves to be told: Isango Ensemble's SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill