Magic from the pit in Nevill Holt’s Dream

By Mark Pullinger, 13 June 2019

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“The Britten Sinfonia... teased out every icy sul ponticello and slithering glissando”

Reviewed at Nevill Holt Estate: Theatre, Market Harborough on 12 June 2019

Britten, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nevill Holt Opera

Nicholas Chalmers, Conductor

Anna Morrissey, Director

Simon Kenny, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Timothy Morgan, Oberon

Daisy Brown, Tytania

Jasper William Cartwright, Puck

Padraic Rowan, Theseus

Anna Harvey, Hippolyta

Peter Kirk, Lysander

Edmund Danon, Demetrius

Martha Jones, Hermia

Meinir Wyn Roberts, Helena

Lawson Anderson, Bottom

Tristan Hambleton, Quince

Timothy Edlin, Snug

Richard Pinkstone, Flute

Oliver Brignall, Snout

Brian McAlea, Starveling

DM Wood, Lighting Designer

Rachel Wise, Assistant Director / Assistant Choreographer

Britten Sinfonia

Malcolm Arnold Academy

The Arbours Primary Academy

Cedar Road Primary School

Well acted, musically strong: La traviata at Nevill Holt

David Karlin, 4th August

A memorable outdoor Traviata from a young cast who immerse us completely in the story.

*****

The Marriage of Figaro: beautiful and beastly

Jane Shuttleworth, 4th July

Nevill Holt Opera and Royal Northern Sinfonia offer a sumptuous production, with gorgeous singing, but one unafraid to make us confront the uncomfortable aspects of the plot.

****1

Tosca from The Royal Opera: Netrebko returns, with a vengeance

David Karlin, 11th September

Oliver Mears' new staging impresses and Jakub Hrůša's first season as Music Director excites interest. But the evening belongs to Anna Netrebko.

****1

Jephtha at the ROH: magnificent singing, but short on dramatic punch

David Karlin, 8th November

Handel's last oratorio is stylishly set in the composer’s era, with an all-star cast of Handelian singers who give their all.

***11

Never judge an album by its cover: Last Days premieres at the ROH

Mark Valencia, 7th October

Oliver Leith's opera is inspired by the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain and it turns out to be a mesmerising, fulfilling creation.

****1

Razor sharp: a bloody Sweeney Todd at WNO

Simon Rees, 8th October

Sondheim's Sweeney Todd seen and heard as it is: one of the greatest late-20th-century operas.

****1

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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.

Magic from the pit in Nevill Holt Opera’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream