L’italiana in Algeri at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

By Pia Maltri, 04 June 2018

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Kelly’s top notes did not lose, but amplify her voice’s velvety quality”

Reviewed at Lismore Castle, Lismore on 1 June 2018

Rossini, L'italiana in Algeri

Marco Zambelli, Conductor

Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau, Director

Rachel Kelly, Isabella

Javier Abreu, Lindoro

Leonardo Galeazzi, Mustafà

Rory Musgrave, Taddeo

Rachel Croash, Elvira

Sandra Oman, Zulma

Rory Dunne, Haly

Blackwater Valley Opera Festival Chamber Orchestra

Blackwater Valley Opera Festival Chorus

Don Pasquale opens the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

Andrew Larkin, 29th May

Farce, slapstick and cruel humour are to the fore in this Blackwater Valley Opera production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

***11

Hansel et Gretel à Strasbourg ou le côté obscur des marchés de Noël

Romain Daroles, 7th December

Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau propose une lecture sociale cruelle du conte des frères Grimm, non sans quelques approximations. Christoph Koncz dirige en revanche une lecture musicale très juste de cette belle partition de Humperdinck.

***11

La nouvelle vie de Thaïs à l'Opéra de Saint-Étienne

Irma Foletti, 19th November

L'œuvre majeure de Jules Massenet est de retour dans la ville du compositeur stéphanois. Transposée à la Belle Époque, elle est défendue par une excellente distribution et par la direction attentive de Victorien Vanoosten.

****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

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

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

More reviews...

Pia Maltri

Pia first fell head over heels for opera when she was a teenager by listening to recordings of some of the great voices of the past: Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus. She holds a degree in Italian Literature and she lives in Rome.