JPYA unite for a golden afternoon at Covent Garden

By Mark Valencia, 22 July 2019

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“Aigul Akhmetshina again sent jaws crashing into chests”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 21 July 2019

Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) (Overture and opening scene)

Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice (Act 3)

Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande (Act 3 Tower Scene)

Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila (Act 2 aria and duet)

Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Act 2 temporale and trio)

Verdi, Rigoletto (Excerpt from Act 1)

Verdi, Falstaff (Finale: “Tutto nel mondo è burla”)

The Royal Opera

James Hendry, Conductor

Patrick Milne, Conductor

Thomas Payne, Conductor

Noa Naamat, Director

Michael Mofidian, Figaro, Golaud, Count Ceprano

Yaritza Véliz, Susanna, Amore

Jacquelyn Stucker, Euridice

Patrick Terry, Orfeo

Hongni Wu, Mélisande, Rosina

Dominic Sedgwick, Pelléas, Figaro

Aigul Akhmetshina, Dalila, Giovanna

Germán Enrique Alcántara, High Priest of Dagon, Marullo

Thando Mjandana, Count Almaviva, Borsa

Chuma Sijeqa, Rigoletto

Haegee Lee, Gilda

Konu Kim, The Duke of Mantua

Billy Slocombe, Lighting Designer

Edmund Whitehead, Conductor

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

Ermonela Jaho returns in triumph to The Royal Opera’s Traviata

Mark Valencia, 8th January

Richard Eyre’s 32-year-old production is rarely out of The Royal Opera’s repertoire for more than a few months at a time, but this particular revival proves very special.

*****

Turandot drowned in an orchestral tsunami at The Royal Opera

David Karlin, 15th December

Andrei Șerban’s 40 year old take on Puccini's tale of the ice princess largely stands the test of time, but Netrebko and Eyvazov are short of their best form.

***11

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

Jette Parker Young Artists unite for a golden afternoon at Covent Garden