Picture perfect: a fine triple bill from the Guildhall School

Mark Bautista (Raimondo) and Faryl Smith (Mariuccia) in I due timidi

Joseph Chalmers in I due timidi

Patrick Dow (Des Grieux) in Le Portrait de Manon

Jonathan Eyers (Pierrot) in Fête Galante

By Dominic Lowe, 13 November 2022

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“Gaitanou is to be congratulated for such organic and lively direction”

Reviewed at Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Silk Street Theatre, London on 11 November 2022

Massenet, Le Portrait de Manon

Smyth, Fête Galante

Rota, I due timidi

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Dominic Wheeler, Conductor

Rodula Gaitanou, Director

Simon Corder, Set Designer, Lighting Designer

Laura Jane Stanfield, Costume Designer

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Inguna Morozova, Aurore, Maria

Nancy Holt, Jean, Lisa

Patrick Dow, Des Grieux

Jack Dolan, Tiberge, The Lover, Dr Sinisgalli

Michael Lafferty, The King

Alexandra Achillea Pouta, The Queen, Signora Guidotti

Louisa Stirland, Columbine, Lucia

Mark Bautista, Harlequin, Raimondo

Jonathan Eyers, Pierrot

Faryl Smith, Mariuccia

Alexandra Meier, Mariuccia's mother

Joe Chalmers, Narrator

Respighi’s Lucrezia compels in Guildhall School’s double bill

Dominic Lowe, 3rd November

Pleas for more Respighi operas are answered as the students of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama give the UK premiere of Lucrezia, paired with Ethel Smyth's Der Wald.

****1

Sacred and profane in Guildhall School's Respighi double bill

Susannah Moody, 6th November

From the spiritual conversion of a Medieval sex-worker, to the Sleeping Beauty tale reimagined, Guildhall stages a Respighi double-bill.

***11

Holst and Weir operas from the Guildhall School of Music

David Truslove, 5th June

Two accomplished performances bring emotional depth only intermittently, but show ample security of singing and playing.

***11

Dead Man Walking given a triumphant staging by Guildhall School

Mark Valencia, 27th February

Under Dominic Wheeler’s expert baton the musicians, all youthful if not downright young, give a spectacular account of a harrowing score.

****1

Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon outshines Bizet at Guildhall School

David Karlin, 1st November

A double bill of French operettas shows Guildhall students to advantage as well as providing an introduction to Viardot that's well worth the trip.

***11

Britten's Dream haunts Guildhall School

Roy Westbrook, 1st March

Dominic Wheeler did full justice to Britten’s brilliantly colourful and haunting score right from those first eerie glissandi.

****1

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

Picture perfect: a fine triple bill from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama