Sukanya: close but no sitar

By Timmy Fisher, 17 January 2020

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“there is something noble in Shankar’s attempt to combine these disparate musical traditions”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 15 January 2020

Shankar, Sukanya (Concert performance)

David Murphy, Conductor

Suba Das, Director

Susanna Hurrell, Sukanya

Alok Kumar, Chyavana

Michel de Souza, Baritone

Njabulo Madlala, Baritone

Gauri Diwakar, Choreography

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Ravi Shankar’s Opera Sukanya Delights in Birmingham

Robert Gainer, 15th May

Five years after the composer's death, his musical collaborator David Murphy ensures that Shankar's only operatic work finally gets heard.

****1

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***11

Anna Netrebko shines in Vienna’s timeless Tosca

Laura Servidei, 18th April

In a world where opera productions often stray into the abstract, the Wiener Staatsoper’s Tosca offers a refreshing return to tradition – and Anna Netrebko delivers a splendid performance.

****1

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

Frauenliebe und -sterben: Kratzer’s triple bill at Staatsoper Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 15th April

Director Tobias Kratzer engineers a haunting pasticcio of Schumann, Bartók and Zemlinsky, tracing the domestic sphere’s shift from romantic surrender to the blood-soaked secrets of a century-spanning house.

****1

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

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Timmy Fisher

Timmy read musicology at Durham University, studying composition with Richard Rijnvos. He has written for Gramophone and The Spectator, and composes for both film and the concert hall. He has a special interest in contemporary choral music, and co-hosts The Classical Music Pod with Sam Poppleton, available on iTunes and Spotify. Follow him on twitter at @timmy_fisher.