The BBC Philharmonic say adiós to Mena

By Leighton Jones, 10 June 2018

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Reviewed at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 9 June 2018

Albéniz, The Magic Opal: Overture

Albéniz, Rapsodia española, Op.70

Falla, La vida breve

Juanjo Mena, Conductor

Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Salud

Cristina Faus, Abuela

Aquiles Machado, Paco

José Antonio López, Tío Salvaor

Segundo Falcón, Cantaor

Raquel Lojendio, Carmela

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Martin Roscoe, Piano

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****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

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Leighton Jones

Leighton has extensive teaching experience from early years to postgraduate level music. Currently he works as a primary music specialist, visiting instrumental teacher and examiner. As a pianist, he was inspired to play after hearing Moura Lympany at a young age and has a large collection of her recordings. Leighton’s postgraduate studies focussed on his interest in 20th-century English orchestral music, with particular study of Britten, Rawsthorne, Walton and Vaughan Williams. A keen choral singer he has developed a comprehensive knowledge of chiefly British choral music.