Crowning glory: DNO's Donizetti Tudor trilogy concludes

Barno Ismatullaeva (Elisabetta), Angela Brower (Sara) and Nikolay Zemlianskikh (Nottingham)

Angela Brower (Sara) and Barno Ismatullaeva (Elisabetta)

Ismael Jordi (Roberto) and Angela Brower (Sara)

Nikolay Zemlianskikh (Nottingham), Barno Ismatullaeva (Elisabetta) and Ismael Jordi (Roberto)

Barno Ismatullaeva (Elisabetta) and Ismael Jordi (Roberto)

By Eleanor Knight, 22 April 2024

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“plunging full-tilt into jaunty Machiavellian intrigue”

Reviewed at Dutch National Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam on 21 April 2024

Donizetti, Roberto Devereux (new production)

Dutch National Opera

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor

Jetske Mijnssen, Director

Ben Baur, Set Designer

Klaus Bruns, Costume Designer

Cor van der Brink, Lighting Designer

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra

Chorus of Dutch National Opera

Barno Ismatullaeva, Elisabetta

Ismael Jordi, Robert Devereux

Angela Brower, Sara, Duchessa di Nottingham

Nikolay Zemlianskikh, Duca di Nottingham

Thando Mjandana, Lord Cecil

Mark Kurmanbayev, Sir Gualtiero Raleigh

Edward Ananian-Cooper, Choirmaster / chorus director

The Dutch National Ballet’s Hans van Manen in Carré

Mark Vicente, 30th April

Dutch National Ballet give an exemplary account of a quadruple bill comprised of the late Hans van Manen’s works. It’s a wonderful tribute to the great master choreographer.

*****

Weinberg’s The Passenger at Dutch National Opera

Clare Varney, 17th April

Tobias Kratzer's 2024 Munich production makes its way to Amsterdam, proving that Weinberg's opera has the power to transfix.

****1

Dutch National Ballet's reimagined La Bayadère triumphs

Mark Vicente, 26th March

Dutch National Ballet's new production of La Bayadère does away with the ballet’s problematic gestures and movements, allowing the choreography to truly shine.

****1

Michel van der Aa’s Theory of Flames: defining opera for a modern age

Clare Varney, 6th March

British singers Mary Bevan and Roderick Williams lead the cast in Dutch National Opera’s latest ground-breaking opera, merging live music with pre-recorded film and electronics.

****1

Dutch National Ballet brings much needed heat to this winter season

Mark Vicente, 10th February

The Dutch National Ballet helped shake off those winter blues with a mixed programme that highlighted ballet’s love affair with Latin rhythms and movement.

****1

Semele at Dutch National Opera: myth, desire and fantasy

Mengguang Huang, 23rd January

Guth’s Semele turns myth into a contemporary domestic drama, where desire becomes obsession and illusion consumes reality. Handel’s music remains the true engine, driven by a thrilling, physically intense ensemble.

****1

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Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.

Crowning glory: DNO's Donizetti Tudor trilogy concludes with Roberto Devereux