A bite of the Big Apple: Nézet-Séguin and the Met Orchestra in London

Joyce DiDonato, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Met Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Met Orchestra

Angel Blue and Russell Thomas

By Dominic Lowe, 01 July 2023

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“a masterclass in acting, her feelings raw, veering from savage, frenzied fury to a rending agony”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 29 June 2023

Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture

Aucoin, Lear Sketches

Berlioz, Les Troyens: Chers Tyriens

Berlioz, Les Troyens: Royal hunt and storm

Berlioz, Les Troyens: Ah! Ah! Je vais mourir! … Adieu, fière cité

Verdi, Otello (Act 4)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Conductor

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Russell Thomas, Otello, Tenor

Angel Blue, Desdemona, Soprano

Deborah Nansteel, Emilia

Michael Chioldi, Iago

Adam Lau, Montano

Richard Bernstein, Lodovico

Errin Duane Brooks, Cassio

Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-soprano

10 Days in a Madhouse receives Canadian premiere

John Gilks, 16th June

10 Days in a Madhouse is a musically and dramatically excellent but disturbing insight into conditions in a women’s asylum brought to life in Toronto by an excellent production.

****1

Galați Cenerentola lights up the Bucharest stage

Peter Quantrill, 15th June

First class young voices and bewitchingly stylised designs shine through the murk at the Bucharest Opera Festival.

****1

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas et Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****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 bite of the Big Apple: Yannick Nézet-Séguin brings the Met Orchestra to London