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

By Edward Sava-Segal, 09 September 2019

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“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

Rossini's Cenerentola proves great fun in Adelaide

Sandra Bowdler, 7th May

Neil Armfield's production for State Opera South Australia combines a sparkling night of entertainment with first class musical values.

****1

Werther oozes quiet despair in new Canadian Opera Company staging

John Gilks, 7th May

Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century.

***11

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

Boston Doodle Dandy: Boston Lyric Opera presents La Fille du régiment

Kevin Wells, 1st May

Very few singers can hold an audience in the palm of their hand the way Brenda Rae as Marie does in this rollicking frolic.

****1

Deep into the American psyche: Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men

Hilary Stroh, 1st May

Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

More reviews...

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