Pappano takes no prisoners in Dallapiccola and Respighi

By Benjamin Poore, 06 June 2022

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“in Pappano the composer has found the best possible advocate”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 5 June 2022

Respighi, Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows)

Dallapiccola, Il prigioniero

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Chorus

Eric Greene, Il prigioniero (The Prisoner)

Ángeles Blancas Gulín, La madre (The Mother)

Stefano Secco, Il carceriere (The Gaoler)/ Il grande Inquisitore (The Grand Inquisitor)

Egor Zhuravskii, Primo sacerdote (First Priest)

Chuma Sijeqa, Secondo sacerdote (Second Priest)

Simon Halsey, Choirmaster / chorus director

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

Aldeburgh Festival dives in at the deep end with Pelléas et Mélisande

Eleanor Knight, 12th June

Rory Kinnear directs a minimally semi-staged performance of Debussy's problematic opera at Snape Maltings, but Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish SO provide the detail.

****1

A thrilling Slavic Iolanta from Chișinău

Peter Quantrill, 11th June

Young voices shine in Tchaikovsky's last opera in a new and rustic updating by Moldovan director Slava Sambriș.

****1

McVicar’s Figaro celebrates its 20th Royal Opera anniversary

Dominic Lowe, 8th June

While this revival is imperfect, the Cherubino of Svetlina Stoyanova proves a marvel to hear.

***11

More reviews...

Benjamin Poore

Benjamin Poore is a writer and critic. His book on psychoanalysis and literature is forthcoming in 2019. He has previously written about literature and culture for the Independent, the Times Literary Supplement, and Times Higher Education. In his spare time he tries to sing Schubert; he has a very patient teacher.