Glimmering Respighi, sparkling Dukas, a murky Il tabarro

Sir Mark Elder

Annunzuata Vestri (La Frugola), Simon Shibambu (Talpa), Alasdair Elliott (Tinca)

Lucio Gallo (Michele), Natalya Romaniw (Giorgetta)

By Dominic Lowe, 01 August 2022

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“a gleaming string frenzy which descended into crepuscular quietude”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 30 July 2022

Dukas, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Respighi, Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome)

Puccini, Il tabarro (concert performance; sung in Italian, with English surtitles)

Sir Mark Elder, Conductor

The Hallé

Philharmonia Voices

Lucio Gallo, Michele

Natalya Romaniw, Giorgetta

Adam Smith, Luigi

Annunziata Vestri, La Frugola

Alasdair Elliott, Tinca

Simon Shibambu, Talpa

Shengzhi Ren, Un venditore di canzonette (a song vendor)

Laura Perešivana, A lover (soprano)

Ryan Vaughan Davies, A lover (tenor)

Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere

Nick Boston, 4th June

John Tavener's “mystical pantomime” proves a disappointment, despite strong performances from singers and orchestra in David Pountney's production.

***11

Jetske Mijnssen's Boccanegra a coup for DNO season finale

Eleanor Knight, 4th June

Everything about this production is fresh and wonderful.

*****

Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante wins hearts at the Opéra de Paris

David Karlin, 2nd June

Leonardo García-Alarcón's exhumation of Bembo's work proves a winner, in a hyper-quirky staging by Netia Jones with Julie Fuchs as the pick of the fine singers.

****1

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****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.

Troubled Waters: glimmering Respighi and sparkling Dukas precede a murky Il tabarro