Mavra and Iolanta: a strong Russian double-bill

By Dominic Lowe, 02 November 2016

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

Stravinsky, Mavra

Tchaikovsky, Iolanta

Dominic Wheeler, Conductor

Kelly Robinson, Director

Bridget Kimak, Set Designer

Margo Arsane, Parasha

John Findon, Vassily/'Mavra'

Jade Moffat, Mother, Martha

Chloë Treharne, Neighbour

Joanna Marie Skillett, Iolanta

Dominick Felix, Vaudémont

Dominic Sedgwick, Robert

David Ireland, King René

Anna Sideris, Brigitta

Bianca Andrew, Laura

Eduardo Mas Bacardit, Alméric

Bertie Watson, Bertrand

Joseph Padfield, Ibn-Hakia

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

A splendid performance of Britten's Owen Wingrave by the Guildhall School

Roger Smith, 5th June

I’m sure before long I’ll see a production of Daisy Pulls It Off that opens with modern day soldiers charging onto the stage waving rifles about – it seems to be the first image directors reach for these days.

****1

Jetske Mijnssen's Boccanegra a coup for DNO season finale

Eleanor Knight, 4th June

Everything about this production is fresh and wonderful.

*****

Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere

Nick Boston, 4th June

John Tavener's “mystical pantomime” proves a disappointment, despite strong performances from singers and orchestra in David Pountney's production.

***11

Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante wins hearts at the Opéra de Paris

David Karlin, 2nd June

Leonardo García-Alarcón's exhumation of Bembo's work proves a winner, in a hyper-quirky staging by Netia Jones with Julie Fuchs as the pick of the fine singers.

****1

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

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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.

Mavra and Iolanta: a strong Russian double-bill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama