Sensory overload: Costanzo's Glass–Handel at Printworks London

Anthony Roth Costanzo

Anthony Roth Costanzo, Karen Kamensek and the English National Opera Orchestra

By Mark Pullinger, 04 September 2022

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“tweaked and twerked, Glass–Handel arrived... in the grungy, industrial space of Printworks London”

Reviewed at Printworks London, London on 3 September 2022

Handel, Tolomeo, Re d'Egitto, HWV 25: Stille amare

Glass, Songs from Liquid Days

Handel, Flavio, HWV 16: Rompo i lacci, e frango i dardi

Glass, No More, You Petty Spirits (World premiere)

Handel, Rinaldo, HWV 7: Lascia ch'io pianga

Glass, Monsters of Grace: In The Arc Of Your Mallet

Handel, Rodelinda, HWV 19: Vivi tiranno

Glass, Fall of the House of Usher: How all living things breathe

Handel, Amadigi, HWV 11: Pena tiranna

Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof

Raf Simons, Costume Designer

James Bonas, Director

Anthony Roth Costanzo, Countertenor

English National Opera Orchestra

Karen Kamensek, Conductor

Glenn Brown, Live Painting

Jason Singh, Nature Beatboxer/Vocal Sound Designer

Justin Peck, Choreography

J Bautista, Dancer

Chia-Yu Hsu, Dancer

Jack Thomson, Dancer

Michael Walters, Dancer

Patricia Zhou, Dancer

Drew McOnie’s Nutcracker sparkles with individuality at Tuff Nutt

Deborah Weiss, 4th November

McOnie's Nutcracker is a riot of non-stop fun, glitter, sheer pleasure and good dancing.

*****

ENO’s Mahagonny: biting, bleak, brilliantly executed satire

David Karlin, 16th February

Never has Brecht and Weill’s satire on the inhumanity of man to man been render with such utter darkness; Simon O’Neill heads up a superb cast.

*****

Taken for a ride: an energetic revival of Così fan tutte at ENO

Dominic Lowe, 6th February

English National Opera's revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular production is a blend of spectacle with some first-class singing, with Lucy Crowe emphasising her Mozartian credentials.

****1

Cocteau-esque camp: Alden’s Partenope returns to ENO

Mark Valencia, 20th November

Christopher Alden’s Olivier Award-winning production of Handel’s Partenope returns to the Coliseum, but it's the singing that earns the plaudits.

****1

Dead Man Walking at English National Opera: a superb execution

David Karlin, 1st November

Anneliese Miskimmon's ENO production of Jake Heggie and Terence McNally's tale of crime, repentance, compassion and redemption compels from start to finish.

*****

Comedy falls flat in ENO's season opening Cinderella

Mark Valencia, 27th September

Julia Burbach and her designer, Herbert Murauer, are defeated by the wide canyons of the Coliseum stage in their modern-dress Cinderella.

**111

More reviews...

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.

Sensory overload: Anthony Roth Costanzo's Glass–Handel at Printworks London