A surrealist Minotaur and devils in tutus

By Dominic Lowe, 01 June 2016

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Reviewed at Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Silk Street Theatre, London on 31 May 2016

Martinů, Ariane

Martinů, Alexandre Bis

Timothy Redmond, Conductor

Rodula Gaitanou, Director

Simon Corder, Set Designer

Nicola Said, Ariane

Josep-Ramon Olivé, Thésée, Alexandre

John Findon, Old Man, Oskar

Dominick Felix, Bouroun

Milan Siljanov, Minotaur, Portrait

Elizabeth Karani, Armande

Bianca Andrew, Philomène

Students from Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Cordelia Chisholm, Set Designer

Iwan Davis, Piano

Strauss à la Fellini: Ariadne auf Naxos at Opera North

Richard Wilcocks, 18th February

Rodula Gaitanou sets Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's comedy in the Cinecittà film studios of the 1950s.

****1

Picture perfect: a fine triple bill from the Guildhall School

Dominic Lowe, 11th November

Massenet, Smyth and Rota are unlikely bedfellows, but in the Guildhall School's Autumn production, a one-act opera by each contributed to a most convincing triple bill, all set around the La Scala Picturehouse in the 1920s.

****1

Edward Gardner conducts a sharp La clemenza di Tito live from Bergen

Mark Valencia, 15th March

Mary Miller bows out after ten years at the helm of Bergen National Opera with a defiant account of Mozart’s final opera.

****1

Man of La Mancha: Don Quichotte at Wexford

Mark Pullinger, 22nd October

A terrific opening to the 68th festival with Aigul Akhmetshina's sultry Dulcinée the standout in a great cast.

****1

Un ballo in maschera showcases Opera Holland Park at its best

Mark Valencia, 8th June

Gaitanou’s direction of the singers is so exact that it becomes impossible to separate them from their characters.

*****

Bloody and marvellous Wexford double bill by Leoni and Giordano

Andrew Larkin, 19th October

A terrifically strong cast gives a fine rendition of two lesser heard operas: Giordano's Mala vita Leoni's L'oracolo.

****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.

A surrealist Minotaur and devils in tutus: Ariane and Alexandre bis at Guildhall