An emotionally distant Peter Grimes at Oper Köln

By Cristina Burack, 30 November 2018

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“Marco Jentzsch brought a focused, sandpapery tenor to the agitated lines of Grimes”

Reviewed at Oper Köln: Staatenhaus Saal 1, Cologne on 28 November 2018

Britten, Peter Grimes

Oper Köln

Nicholas Collon, Conductor

Frederic Wake-Walker, Director

Anna Jones, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Marco Jentzsch, Peter Grimes

Ivana Rusko, Ellen Orford

Peter Sidhom, Captain Balstrode

Malgorzata Walewska, Auntie

Dino Lüthy, Bob Boles

Monica Dewey, First Niece

Kathrin Zukowski, Second Niece

Darren Jeffery, Hobson

Philip Sheffield, Rev Horace Adams

Lucas Singer, Swallow

Rebecca de Pont Davies, Mrs Sedley

Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger, Ned Keene

Andreas Grüter, Lighting Designer

Tanja Fasching, Dramaturgy

Georg Kehren, Dramaturgy

Extrachor der Oper Köln

Chor der Oper Köln

Gürzenich Orchestra

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Brett Dean's operatic reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet receives its German premiere in a powerful new staging by the work's librettist Matthew Jocelyn.

****1

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This production fell just short of brilliance but showed how relevant and thought-provoking opera as an art form can be when tapping into today's headline debates.

****1

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***11

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In a temporary home, Cologne Opera have mounted a remarkably joyful production of Beethoven’s single, wonderful opera.

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The Staatenhaus venue forces one too many compromises on Bernstein's operetta, but the performance itself is saved by the accomplishment of much of the singing.

***11

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Cristina Burack

Cristina Burack studied piano and flute for many years, before earning her BM in Voice and Opera performance at Northwestern University, with a strong focus on German Lieder, as well as a BA in History. After continuing her vocal studies in Vienna, she turned her professional focus to communications. She is a freelance journalist who particularly enjoys covering the intersection of music, history and politics.