Add a pinch of fairy dust: Weber's Oberon

By Charlotte Valori, 28 November 2014

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Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 25 November 2014

Weber, Oberon

New Sussex Opera

Nicholas Jenkins, Conductor

Max Key, Director

Sally Silver, Reiza

Carolyn Dobbin, Fatima

Adam Tunnicliffe, Oberon

Adrian Dwyer, Sir Huon of Bordeaux

Damian Thantrey, Scherasmin

St Paul's Sinfonia

A rare outing for Stanford's Travelling Companion

John Johnston, 30th November

Charles Villiers Stanford's The Travelling Companion is performed at Cadogan Hall by New Sussex Opera.

****1

Paradise reduced: New Sussex Opera's Delius

Matthew Rye, 28th March

Despite a much reduced orchestra and a slightly awkward staging, New Sussex Opera's production of Delius's A Village Romeo and Juliet still gave us the chance to wallow in a glorious late-Romantic score.

***11

Sickly sweet: Ambroise Thomas' Mignon

Charlotte Valori, 24th November

Fine soprano performances from Ruth Jenkins-Róbertsson and Victoria Simmonds can't save Ambroise Thomas's inanimate object of a plot. Thank goodness Wagner saved us from more of the same.

**111

Irish National Opera’s new Rusalka intrigues more than it convinces

Andrew Larkin, 22nd March

Netia Jones’ modern reimagining intrigues more than it convinces, but still makes a strong case for Dvořák’s dark fairy tale.

***11

Billy Budd, or the Triumph of Beauty at the Opéra de Lyon

Stéphane Lelièvre, 21st March

The Opéra de Lyon presents Britten’s masterpiece for the first time: a triumph, both visually and musically, which is received with great enthusiasm by the audience.

****1

Magnifying Glass: a magnificent Les Enfants terribles in Lille

Elena Luporini, 20th March

A new production of Les Enfants terribles at the Opéra de Lille drags the audience into a terribly marvelous labyrinth, courtesy of conductor Virginie Déjos and directors Matthias Piro and Lisa Moro.

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Charlotte Valori

Charlotte Valori read Classics at Christ Church, Oxford. As a classicist, her main interest is Greek tragedy and its reception by later cultures, which has led to a continuing passion for theatre and opera. Charlotte reviews for several online magazines, and won the Bachtrack Opera Award 2015 for Best Written English Review. Follow her on Twitter @operissima.

Add a pinch of fairy dust: Weber's Oberon, with New Sussex Opera