Nightmares dressed as daydreams: Respighi and Ravel at the RCM

Lylis O'Hara (Princess) and Zixin Tang (The Old Woman)

La bella dormente nel bosco

L'Enfant et les sortilèges

Anastasia Koorn (China Cup) and Sofia Kirwan-Baez (Fire) in L'Enfant et les sortilèges

By Dominic Lowe, 15 March 2023

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“singing was of a high standard across the board”

Reviewed at Royal College of Music: Britten Theatre, London on 13 March 2023

Respighi, La bella dormente nel bosco

Ravel, L'Enfant et les sortilèges

RCM Opera Studio

Michael Rosewell, Conductor

Liam Steel, Director

Michael Pavelka, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Andy Purves, Lighting Designer

RCM Classical Orchestra

Lylis O'Hara, The princess

Dafydd Jones, The prince

Seonwoo Lee, The blue fairy, Nightingale

Lexie Moon, The little old lady, The Child

Jamie Woollard, The king, Chair

Nathan Breeze, A woodcutter

Georgia Melville, The nightingale

Amber Reeves, The cuckoo

Sam Hird, The ambassador

Lily Mo Browne, The queen

Lucy Gibbs, The duchess

Ning Su, The jester

Ceferina Penny, The green fairy, The frog

Phoebe Rayner, The cat, Cat (female), Squirrel

Charlotte Clapperton, Mother

Sofia Kirwan-Baez, Fire

Anastasia Koorn, China Cup, Dragonfly

Misato Makiyama, Princess

Charlotte Jane Kennedy, The armchair, Owl

Alysia Hanshaw, Bat, Shepherdess

Maria Willis, Shepherd

Sam Harris, Little old man, Tree frog

Daniel Barrett, Clock, Cat (male)

Marcus Swietlicki, Wedgwood teapot

Ross Fettes, Tree

Hedging its bets: La finta giardiniera at the Royal College of Music

Dominic Lowe, 16th March

Mozart's teenage comedy is more complicated then Figaro but is easy on the ear, with many opportunities for a young cast to shine.

***11

The other Don Giovanni: Gazzaniga's take on the legendary lothario

Dominic Lowe, 20th November

It premiered in the same year as Mozart's opera, but Gazzaniga's Don Giovanni is virtually unknown. Despite the best efforts of an energetic student cast it doesn't come close to hitting the heights that Mozart and Da Ponte reached.

***11

Candy and Communism: Hänsel und Gretel at the Royal College of Music

Dominic Lowe, 14th March

A new production of Humperdinck's charming fairy-tale opera is always to be welcomed, particularly when performed with such enthusiasm by the students of the Royal College of Music.

****1

Tuneful desert island fun: Robinson Crusoe at the RCM

David Karlin, 13th March

A delicious evening which showed off its young talent to best advantage and made us want more Offenbach.

****1

Britten's recurring Dream at the Royal College of Music

Mark Valencia, 5th March

Timothy Edlin was a superb ass, first among six equals, in Liam Steel's production.

***11

Humdinger of a Gianni Schicchi from ETO

Mark Pullinger, 2nd March

A great return appearance for English Touring Opera's Puccini double bill opening its spring tour at the Hackney Empire.

****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.

Nightmares dressed as daydreams: Respighi and Ravel at the Royal College of Music