Russian Roulette: Pappano’s spin through the Mighty Handful

By Mark Pullinger, 09 February 2016

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Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 8 February 2016

Rimsky-Korsakov, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh: Prelude and the Battle of Kerzhenets

Rimsky-Korsakov, The Tale of Tsar Saltan: The Flight of the Bumblebee

Borodin, Symphony no. 2 in B minor

Mussorgsky, Night on the Bare Mountain

Cui, William Ratcliff: Prelude to Act III

Balakirev, Oriental Fantasy, "Islamey", Op.18

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

The Royal Ballet and McGregor: stunning dancing but nothing really new

Deborah Weiss, 18th April

An evening of ballets by Wayne McGregor, including the world premiere of Quantum Souls, proved to be a little too much of the same thing.

***11

The Royal Ballet’s Mayerling: violent, feral, tortured dance

Graham Watts, 30th March

In this latest revival of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling, The Royal Ballet presents a roster of powerful and vivid interpretations across the board.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

A new Albrecht makes a polished Giselle shine even brighter

Deborah Weiss, 7th March

A last minute injury to Natalia Osipova does not mar the magic of Sir Peter Wright's Giselle as Marianela Núñez steps in to partner Patricio Revé.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Russian Roulette: Pappano’s spin through the Mighty Handful at Covent Garden