The power of music: Iestyn Davies in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice

By Edward Sava-Segal, 09 September 2019

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“charismatic Orfeo, undoubtedly able to mesmerise Cerberus, beasts and public alike”

Reviewed at Romanian Atheneum (Ateneul Român), Bucharest on 7 September 2019

Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice (Concert performance, Vienna version)

Laurence Cummings, Conductor

Iestyn Davies, Orfeo

Lydia Teuscher, Euridice

Rowan Pierce, Amore

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

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Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

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A witty hotel Don Giovanni opens Blackwater Valley Festival

Andrew Larkin, 27th May

Tom Creed’s witty production at Lismore Castle delivers strong singing, sharp comedy and lively orchestral playing, even if the opera’s darker supernatural edges are somewhat diminished.

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Garsington’s new La traviata ticks every musical and dramatic box

David Karlin, 27th May

Music Director Douglas Boyd conducts a performance of exceptional musical quality, and Louisa Muller's uncontroversial but passionate direction makes this Traviata one for the ages.

*****

Opera Holland Park makes a convincing case for La fanciulla del West

Dominic Lowe, 26th May

A thoughtful production from Martin Lloyd-Evans and magnificent playing from Matthew Kofi Walden and the City of London Sinfonia make the case for why Puccini's under-appreciated work is actually so sophisticated.

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Werther revived at San Carlo: an anatomy of emotional isolation

Lorenzo Fiorito, 26th May

Willy Decker’s psychologically intense Werther returns to the Teatro di San Carlo with a deeply human interpretation by Francesco Demuro and refined conducting by Lorenzo Passerini.

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

The power of music: Iestyn Davies in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at Enescu Festival