A sharp, crisp Oklahoma! at the BBC Proms

By Mark Valencia, 12 August 2017

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“an overture of spry delights, daringly fast yet anything but furious”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 11 August 2017

Rodgers, Oklahoma! (semi-staged)

John Wilson, Conductor

Rachel Kavanaugh, Director

Belinda Lang, Aunt Eller

Nathaniel Hackmann, Curly McLain

Scarlett Strallen, Laurey Williams

Robert Fairchild, Will Parker

David Seadon-Young, Jud Fry

Lizzy Connolly, Ado Annie

Marcus Brigstocke, Ali Hakim

John Wilson Orchestra

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John Gilks, 16th June

10 Days in a Madhouse is a musically and dramatically excellent but disturbing insight into conditions in a women’s asylum brought to life in Toronto by an excellent production.

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Galați Cenerentola lights up the Bucharest stage

Peter Quantrill, 15th June

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L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

Prom 34: A sharp, crisp Oklahoma! at the Proms