Prom 29: Twilight of the Old Believers

By Mark Pullinger, 07 August 2017

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“Ain Anger’s charcoal-soft bass, with a Furlanetto-like sob, made for a moving Dosifey”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 6 August 2017

Mussorgsky, Khovanshchina (concert performance; sung in Russian)

Semyon Bychkov, Conductor

Paul Curran, Director

Colin Judson, Kuska

Ante Jerkunica, Prince Ivan Khovansky

Christopher Ventris, Prince Andrei Khovansky

Vsevolod Grivnov, Prince Vasily Golitzin

Elena Maximova, Marfa

Ain Anger, Dosifey

George Gagnidze, Boyar Fyodor Shaklovity

Jennifer Rhys-Davies, Susanna

Norbert Ernst, Scrivener

Anush Hovhannisyan, Emma

Schola Cantorum of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School

Tiffin Boys' Choir

BBC Singers

Slovak Philharmonic Choir

BBC Symphony Orchestra

La clemenza di Tito at La Fenice: splendid score, sterile stage

Laura Servidei, 23rd November

Ivor Bolton leads a great cast in a superb musical production of Mozart’s last masterpiece, in a lukewarm new production by Paul Curran.

****1

Die Fledermaus at The Grange: Cabaret meets G&S

David Karlin, 20th June

A fine singing cast gives creditable performances in Johann Stauss II's most famous operetta, but Paul Curran's updating of Act 2 to 1930s Berlin takes the fizz out of the Champagne.

***11

Obsession at The Grange: The Queen of Spades

David Karlin, 23rd June

In a setting that might be The Grange itself, a production which steadily tightens its grip until a blistering finish.

*****

Puccini's “shabby little shocker” fails to shock in Toronto

John Gilks, 5th May

Fourth time around Paul Curran’s production of Tosca at the Canadian Opera Company is workmanlike and well sung, but lacks the necessary dramatic edge to be truly memorable.

**111

Full fathom five: Peter Grimes at La Fenice

Elena Luporini, 24th June

Finally reaching the stage of the Venetian theatre, Benjamin Britten's first major opera meets with success thanks to Juraj Valčuha's conducting, Paul Curran's staging and an excellent cast.

*****

Irish National Opera's entertaining Carmen is a hit in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 7th March

Paul Curran's production of Carmen is entertaining and slick, with Paula Murrihy as a feisty heroine.

***11

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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.

Prom 29: Twilight of the Old Believers as Semyon Bychkov leads a majestic Khovanshchina