Waxing lyrical: rare Offenbach proves a hit

Anne-Catherine Gillet and Virginie Verrez

Virginie Verrez, Paul Daniel and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Harriet Walter

By Matthew Rye, 19 September 2022

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“frothy and inconsequential it may be, but a lot of fun, too”

Reviewed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 16 September 2022

Offenbach, La Princesse de Trébizonde (concert performance)

Paul Daniel, Conductor

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Opera Rara Chorus

Anne-Catherine Gillet, Zanetta

Virginie Verrez, Prince Raphaël

Christophe Gay, Cabriolo

Antoinette Dennefeld, Regina

Josh Lovell, Prince Casimir

Katia Ledoux, Paola

Christophe Mortagne, Trémolini

Loïc Félix, Sparadrap

Dame Harriet Walter, Narrator

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

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Romeo Castellucci directs a new Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 26th April

The Italian director makes his long-awaited Italian operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala in a production which perfectly mirrors Debussy’s most enigmatic creation.

****1

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

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Matthew Rye

Matthew read music at Oxford and worked in music journalism for 30 years as a writer, critic and editor. He wrote numerous programme and CD booklet notes, spent 13 years as a Daily Telegraph critic, worked at BBC Music Magazine and was reviews editor of The Strad. He also wrote for The Wagner Journal and Opera and blogged at ferneklang.blogspot.co.uk. He was general editor of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell Illustrated, 2007) and was the author of a new series of eBooks, Masterpieces of Music (Erudition).