Valletta International Baroque Festival: Hippolyte et Aricie

By Anthony Hart, 20 January 2014

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Reviewed at Teatru Manoel, Valletta on 12 January 2014

Rameau, Hippolyte et Aricie

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

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Romeo Castellucci directs a new Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 26th April

The Italian director makes his long-awaited Italian operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala in a production which perfectly mirrors Debussy’s most enigmatic creation.

****1

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

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Anthony Hart

Anthony Hart, born in the UK, now lives in Malta. He was presented papers for Società Italiana di Musicologia and the International Musicological Society. He a Licentiate of the London College of Music. He has had papers published in Early Music, Studi Musicali and Fonti Musicali Italiane.

Pure entertainment in Malta: Hippolyte et Aricie at the Valletta Festival