Ravi Shankar’s Opera Sukanya Delights in Birmingham

By Robert Gainer, 17 May 2017

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“The fusion seemed natural, unforced.”

Reviewed at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on 15 May 2017

Shankar, Sukanya (World première)

Susanna Hurrell, Soprano

Alok Kumar, Tenor

Keel Watson, Bass

Njabulo Madlala, Baritone

Michel de Souza, Baritone

Suba Das, Director

David Murphy, Conductor

Aakash Odedra Company

BBC Singers

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Parimal Sadaphal, Sitar

Ashwani Shankar, Shehnai

Sukanya: close but no sitar

Timmy Fisher, 15th January

Ravi Shankar's valiant fusion of East and West is no greater than the sum of its parts.

***11

Rossini's Cenerentola proves great fun in Adelaide

Sandra Bowdler, 7th May

Neil Armfield's production for State Opera South Australia combines a sparkling night of entertainment with first class musical values.

****1

Werther oozes quiet despair in new Canadian Opera Company staging

John Gilks, 7th May

Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century.

***11

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

The early flowering of opera: a fragrant L’Orfeo at Schwetzingen

Mengguang Huang, 3rd May

Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

****1

Deep into the American psyche: Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men

Hilary Stroh, 1st May

Carlisle Floyd's operatic setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novella is given a new production in the composer's centenary year at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

****1

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Robert Gainer

Robert Gainer has completed a BA in European Studies at the University of Warwick and an MSc in Criminology at the University of Leicester. He is currently completing further study in English and Cultural Studies, again at Warwick. He plays trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn and his musical background is in brass band and orchestra. In his spare time he enjoys writing fiction and poetry.