Ivan not quite so Terrible at Grange Park Opera

By Mark Pullinger, 20 June 2021

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“the main interest comes from the choral numbers and the orchestral evocation of Russian bells”

Reviewed at The Theatre in the Woods, West Horsley on 19 June 2021

Rimsky-Korsakov, The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga

Rimsky-Korsakov, The Maid of Pskov

Grange Park Opera

Mikhail Tatarnikov, Conductor

Sir David Pountney, Director

Francis O'Connor, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Malcolm Rippeth, Lighting Designer

Evelina Dobračeva, Vera Sheloga, Princess Olga Yuryevna Tokmakova

John Ieuan Jones, Boyar Ivan Semyonovich Sheloga, Bomelius

Amy Sedgwick, Nadezhda Nasonova

David Shipley, Prince Yuriy Ivanovich Tokmakov

Liubov Sokolova, Vlasyevna

Carl Tanner, Mikhail Andreyevich Tucha

Clive Bayley, Tsar Ivan Vasilevich the Terrible

Adrian Thompson, Boyar Nikita Matuta

Philip Wilcox, Prince Afanasy Vyazemsky

Colin Murray, Yushko Velebin

Grange Park Opera Chorus

The Gascoigne Orchestra

Taj Mahal by Nishat Khan premieres at Grange Park Opera

David Karlin, 10th July

Scion of generations of sitar players, Nishat Khan is the perfect person to tell the "greatest love story never told" behind India's most iconic building.

***11

Ukraine matters: Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa at Grange Park Opera

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

Why is Tchaikovsky’s very fine opera still a rarity outside Russia? David Pountney directs a new production at the Surrey festival.

****1

Pountney’s vivid Simon Boccanegra at Grange Park Opera

Mark Pullinger, 5th June

Sir David Pountney's 1997 staging for Welsh National Opera is given a welcome new lease of life at Grange Park Opera, splendidly cast... with one major exception.

****1

A confusing operatic take on The Tempest at Grange Park Opera

Nick Boston, 11th July

Strong vocal and orchestral performances, supported by impressive visuals, struggle to bring coherency to Anthony Bolton's Island of Dreams at Grange Park Opera.

***11

An impressive, minimalist Kátya Kabanová at Grange Park Opera

David Karlin, 27th June

A memorable performance, with Stephen Barlow conducting Janáček’s remarkable score with vividness and clarity, while David Alden's staging is a masterpiece of "less is more".

****1

Aleko on the Arno: Bryn Terfel leads fine new GPO double bill

Roy Westbrook, 6th June

An unlikely pairing opens Grange Park Opera's season, the two works united by the dominant central character of each opera – Sir Bryn Terfel.

****1

More reviews...

Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Ivan not quite so Terrible: a Rimsky-Korsakov double bill at Grange Park Opera