Grimeborn delivers a wholly satisfying Half Ring at Hackney Empire

Neal Cooper (Siegfried) in Siegfried

Mae Heydorn (Erda) and Paul Carey Jones (Wanderer) in Siegfried

Neal Cooper (Siegfried) and Lee Bisset (Brünnhilde) in Siegfried

Lee Bisset (Brünnhilde) in Götterdämmerung

Simon Wilding (Hagen) in Götterdämmerung

By Roy Westbrook, 07 August 2022

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“Siegfried the boastful youth was Neal Cooper, railing against Mime’s neglect and singing exultantly”

Reviewed at Hackney Empire, London on 6 August 2022

Wagner, Siegfried (adapted by Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick)

Peter Selwyn, Conductor

Julia Burbach, Director

Bettina John, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Robert Price, Lighting Designer

Orpheus Sinfonia

Neal Cooper, Siegfried

Lee Bisset, Brünnhilde

Colin Judson, Mime

Paul Carey Jones, Der Wanderer

Elizabeth Karani, Waldvogel (the woodbird)

Mae Heydorn, Erda

Freddie Tong, Alberich

Simon Wilding, Fafner

Cameron McMillan, Choreography

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Reviewed at Hackney Empire, London on 6 August 2022

Wagner, Götterdämmerung (adapted by Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick)

Peter Selwyn, Conductor

Julia Burbach, Director

Bettina John, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Robert Price, Lighting Designer

Orpheus Sinfonia

Lee Bisset, Brünnhilde

Mark Le Brocq, Siegfried

Simon Thorpe, Gunther

Lucy Anderson, Gutrune

Simon Wilding, Hagen

Angharad Lyddon, Waltraute

Lizzie Holmes, Woglinde

Bethan Langford, Wellgunde

Mae Heydorn, Flosshilde

Freddie Tong, Alberich

Cameron McMillan, Choreography

Sir David McVicar’s psychologically driven Salome arrives in Chicago

Graham Meyer, 25th January

Revived at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the notorious opera director’s take stirs sympathy for Salome, but leans on some of his theatrical hobby-horses

****1

Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

Mark Valencia, 27th September

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

Doomed Dutchman wants a wife: Wagner makes Opera Holland Park debut

Eleanor Knight, 27th May

Amid the rough winds of late May, Julia Burbach directs Opera Holland Park's first venture into Wagner – The Flying Dutchman.

***11

Julia Burbach delivers a potent Elixir in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 22nd September

Donizetti's frothy romantic comedy takes on fresh appeal in this faithful rendering at the State Opera.

*****

An icy Eugene Onegin at Opera Holland Park

Kevin W Ng, 31st May

Julia Burbach's new production lacks poetry in spite of an admirable cast led by Samuel Dale Johnson in the title role.

***11

An imaginative, psychological take on Catalani's Edmea in Wexford

Andrew Larkin, 22nd October

A journey through the subconscious of the main protagonist Edmea, with Anne-Sophie Duprels as the eponymous heroine.

***11

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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.