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

Sebastian Hill (Miles Zegner) and Aidan O'Donnell (The Sodbuster)

Laura LeVoir, Miranda Kettlewell (Daughters) and Lowri Probert (Mrs Johannes “Ma” Zegner)

Twm Tegid (Mr Johannes “Pa” Zegner)

Sebastian Hill (Miles Zegner)

By Mark Pullinger, 01 June 2026

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“wheezing harmonicas, the rattle of a harpsichord, scratching, hammering, a groaning double bass”

Reviewed at Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Milton Court Theatre, London on 1 June 2026

Mazzoli, Proving Up (UK premiere)

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

James Henshaw, Conductor

Amy Lane, Director

Anna Yates, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Toby Ison, Lighting Designer

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Sebastian Hill, Miles Zegner

Twm Tegid Brunton, Johannes “Pa” Zegner

Lowri Probert, Johannes “Ma” Zegner

Laura LeVoir, Zegner Sister 1

Miranda Kettlewell, Zegner Sister 2

Aidan O'Donnell, The Sodbuster

Kishore Walker, Peter Zegner

Respighi’s Lucrezia compels in Guildhall School’s double bill

Dominic Lowe, 3rd November

Pleas for more Respighi operas are answered as the students of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama give the UK premiere of Lucrezia, paired with Ethel Smyth's Der Wald.

****1

Sacred and profane in Guildhall School's Respighi double bill

Susannah Moody, 6th November

From the spiritual conversion of a Medieval sex-worker, to the Sleeping Beauty tale reimagined, Guildhall stages a Respighi double-bill.

***11

Holst and Weir operas from the Guildhall School of Music

David Truslove, 5th June

Two accomplished performances bring emotional depth only intermittently, but show ample security of singing and playing.

***11

Dead Man Walking given a triumphant staging by Guildhall School

Mark Valencia, 27th February

Under Dominic Wheeler’s expert baton the musicians, all youthful if not downright young, give a spectacular account of a harrowing score.

****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

Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon outshines Bizet at Guildhall School

David Karlin, 1st November

A double bill of French operettas shows Guildhall students to advantage as well as providing an introduction to Viardot that's well worth the trip.

***11

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.