A mesmerising Siegfried from the Mariinsky in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton, 10 November 2014

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham on 8 November 2014

Wagner, Siegfried

Mariinsky Opera

Valery Gergiev, Conductor

Mikhail Vekua, Siegfried

Olga Sergeyeva, Brünnhilde

Andrei Popov, Mime

Anastasia Kalagina, Waldvogel (the woodbird)

Vladimir Feliauer, Der Wanderer

Edem Umerov, Alberich

Mikhail Petrenko, Fafner

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

The epitome of Russianness: Boris Godunov at the Mariinsky

David Karlin, 20th June

In Tarkovsky's venerable production, the Mariinsky orchestra and chorus are brilliant – but too brilliant for their soloists, including two replacement Borises for an indisposed Mikhail Petrenko.

***11

Intoxicating, mystic, sacred, profane

David Karlin, 19th June

Rodion Shchedrin's opera mixes singing, choreography and storytelling to lend a potent sacred and mystic overlay to Nikolai Leskov's folk tale.

*****

Netrebko takes on Adriana Lecouvreur at the Mariinsky

David Karlin, 18th June

Isabelle Patriot-Pieri's new production is a quirky mix of traditional and the opposite; Netrebko shows her star quality; Eyvasov impresses.

****1

Mariinsky Rheingold a promising start to EIF Ring

David Smythe, 15th August

Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Opera in a vocally strong Das Rheingold, a promising beginning to Edinburgh International Festival’s Ring in concert over the coming years.

****1

Conflict Unresolved: The Enchanted Wanderer

Jacob Slattery, 14th January

Shchedrin’s opera The Enchanted Wanderer is the complete opposite of shocking and director Alexei Stepanyuk’s staging alongside Valery Gergiev’s command over the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra revealed something of a translucid daydream.

***11

The Mariinsky Ring concludes in Birmingham

Rohan Shotton, 9th November

Valery Gergiev brings George Tsypin's Ring staging to a spectacular close with Götterdämmerung in Birmingham.

****1

More reviews...

Rohan Shotton

Rohan has reviewed concerts and opera across the UK and Europe, but chiefly in Manchester, where he enjoys conducting and playing percussion and piano. He works as a hospital doctor, having studied in St Andrews and Manchester, and tweets as @RohanShotton.