New Chamber Opera: Orpheus in the Underworld

By Wilf Jones, 06 February 2012

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Reviewed at Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford on 3 February 2012

Offenbach, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)

New Chamber Opera

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

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Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

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Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

Boston Doodle Dandy: Boston Lyric Opera presents La Fille du régiment

Kevin Wells, 1st May

Very few singers can hold an audience in the palm of their hand the way Brenda Rae as Marie does in this rollicking frolic.

****1

The triumph of virtue: Rossini’s Cenerentola in Brisbane

Sandra Bowdler, 29th April

Margarita Gritskova leads a fine ensemble performance of Rossini’s most under-appreciated opera by Opera Queensland.

****1

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Wilf Jones

Wilfrid Jones is a music student and choral scholar at New College, Oxford. He directs Floreat Cantus, a London-based chamber choir, and sings in various professional church choirs in Oxford.