One eye wet and the other dry

By Kevin Wells, 03 October 2016

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“Fleming... can still spin and float a phrase and remains in the moment dramatically”

Reviewed at Symphony Hall, Boston on 29 September 2016

Strauss R., Der Rosenkavalier (Concert performance)

Andris Nelsons, Conductor

Renée Fleming, Feldmarschallin

Erin Morley, Sophie

Susan Graham, Octavian

Alan Opie, Herr von Faninal, Faninal's Major-Domo

Franz Hawlata, Baron Ochs

Irmgard Vilsmaier, Marianne

Michelle Trainor, A milliner

Jane Henschel, Annina

Graham Clark, Valzacchi

David Cangelosi, Feldmarschallin's Major-Domo

Stephen Costello, Italian Singer

Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Bang! Mozart’s volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****1

A witty hotel Don Giovanni opens Blackwater Valley Festival

Andrew Larkin, 27th May

Tom Creed’s witty production at Lismore Castle delivers strong singing, sharp comedy and lively orchestral playing, even if the opera’s darker supernatural edges are somewhat diminished.

****1

Garsington’s new La traviata ticks every musical and dramatic box

David Karlin, 27th May

Music Director Douglas Boyd conducts a performance of exceptional musical quality, and Louisa Muller's uncontroversial but passionate direction makes this Traviata one for the ages.

*****

Werther revived at San Carlo: an anatomy of emotional isolation

Lorenzo Fiorito, 26th May

Willy Decker’s psychologically intense Werther returns to the Teatro di San Carlo with a deeply human interpretation by Francesco Demuro and refined conducting by Lorenzo Passerini.

*****

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Kevin Wells

Kevin Wells was bitten by the opera bug at 10, having heard a 1936 recording of Jussi Björling singing “Che gelida manina”. He has never been the same since. A student of voice, performance practice, the history of singing and opera, he holds advanced degrees in Italian and has lived and worked in Italy off and on since the 70s. La Scala became a second home as the Met had been during college daze. Now in his native Boston, he works as translator, tutor, and language coach, haunts Symphony Hall, and would haunt the Opera House had it not been demolished in 1958!

One eye wet and the other dry: Der Rosenkavalier with the Boston Symphony