Consumption or Covid? La bohème at Grange Park Opera

By Dominic Lowe, 14 June 2021

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“Café Momus is a desolate place and much in need of an Eat Out to Help Out Scheme”

Reviewed at The Theatre in the Woods, West Horsley on 12 June 2021

Puccini, La bohème

Grange Park Opera

Stephen Barlow, Conductor

Stephen Medcalf, Director

Jamie Vartan, Set Designer, Costume Designer

John Bishop, Lighting Designer

Ailish Tynan, Mimì

Luis Chapa, Rodolfo

Hye-Youn Lee, Musetta

William Dazeley, Marcello

Harry Thatcher, Schaunard

Emyr Wyn Jones, Colline

Andrew Shore, Benoît, Alcindoro

Grange Park Opera Chorus

BBC Concert 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

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.