Made in Yorkshire: A highly successful part of the Leeds Lieder Festival

By Richard Wilcocks, 15 October 2013

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Reviewed at Leeds Conservatoire: The Venue, Leeds on 13 October 2013

Poulenc, La Courte Paille, FP 178

Schubert, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock), (W. Müller u. H. v. Chézy), D.965

Vaughan Williams, Songs of Travel

Works by Quilter

Works by Gershwin

Works by Porter

Bibi Heal, Soprano

Joshua Ellicott, Tenor

Colin Honour, Clarinet

Anthony Kraus, Piano

The Grange Festival opens with Britten's Dream

Roy Westbrook, 27th June

Britten's four lovers were costumed in quasi-contemporary, even glamorous manner, stripping to their underwear for the end of Act 2... so more Love Island than Ancient Athens.

****1

Dido and Aeneas and Trouble in Tahiti at RCS

David Smythe, 2nd March

In the unlikeliest of pairings at RCS, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas finds resonance with Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, delivered with spirited commitment.

****1

Green-eyed miracle: Salieri’s The School of Jealousy

Charlotte Valori, 22nd July

Wet English summer weather may have driven Bampton's pacy revival of Salieri's wickedly funny La scuola de' gelosi indoors, but rain could not dampen the sheer fun ahead.

****1

Opera North's sunny and life-affirming Bartered Bride

Richard Wilcocks, 29th October

Smetana's The Bartered Bride by Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre directed by Daniel Slater is a confident revival of an old success.

****1

The Dunedin Consort Messiah remains a welcome seasonal speciality

David Smythe, 18th December

The Dunedin Messiah, a speciality with Baroque instruments, is given with soloists Nardus Williams, Lotte Betts-Dean, Joshua Ellicott and Dingle Yandell in Perth, directed by John Butt.

****1

Immersive Bach: St Matthew Passion at Deutsche Oper Berlin

Elena Luporini, 5th May

Benedikt von Peter's new staging of Bach's St Matthew Passion premieres at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, under Alessandro De Marchi. But despite the good synergy between director and conductor and a first-rate vocal ensemble, the production falls somewhat flat.

***11

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Richard Wilcocks

Richard Wilcocks has worked as a journalist, as a teacher and for the British Council. He sings bass with Leeds Festival Chorus.