No more than Pretty; Yende and Vaughan at Cadogan Hall

By Penny Homer, 16 May 2014

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 15 May 2014

Rossini, Les Soirées musicales: La promessa

Bellini, Vanne, o rosa fortunata

Donizetti, L'amor funesto

Donizetti, Me voglio fa'na casa

Dell'Acqua, Villanelle

Bizet, Ouvre ton cœur

Poulenc, Les Chemins de l'amour, FP 106 Ia

Delibes, Les filles des Cadix

Giménez, Sierras de Granada

Giménez, La Temprenica: La Tarántula é un bicho mú malo

Giménez, El barbero de Sevilla: "Me llaman la primorosa"

Kern, Very warm for May: All the things you are

Herbert, Weaving my Dreams

Herbert, The Nightingale and the Star

Pretty Yende, Soprano

James Vaughan, Piano

Crystal-like dismay in Preljocaj's Winterreise for La Scala

Alessandra Tribotti, 24th January

The long-awaited first creation of the Franco-Albanian choreographer for La Scala Ballet Company inexplicably fails to resonate emotionally with Schubert's masterpiece.

**111

Harmonieux Winterreise de Preljocaj au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Iris Régnier, 3rd October

Créé par Angelin Preljocaj sur la musique de Schubert, Winterreise met à l'honneur les danseurs du Ballet Preljocaj au Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, suscitant beaucoup d'émotions.

****1

Dudamel and Catalan choirs dazzle in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis

Néstor Castiglione, 20th February

In Los Angeles, Gustavo Dudamel conducts Beethoven's Missa solemnis for the first time... and it proves worth the wait.

*****

In Mears’ bleak Royal Opera Semele, Pretty Yende stands out

David Karlin, 30th June

Superb Handelian singing and intense character acting light up Handel’s Semele, staged as a stark, uncompromising indictment of the rich and powerful.

****1

Bernheim heads a powerhouse cast in the Met’s Hoffmann revival

Susan Stempleski, 24th September

After a heavily promoted but underwhelming opening night, the company gets the new season back on track with plenty of star power in Offenbach’s final masterpiece.

****1

Second episode in Jetske Mijnssen's Tudor trilogy opens in Naples

Lorenzo Fiorito, 20th June

This production focuses on the psychological and human aspects of the central characters, rather than on their political conflict, with Elizabeth playing a pivotal role.

***11

More reviews...

Penny Homer

Penny Homer graduated from the University of Nottingham with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2003, where she was also a choral scholar at St Barnabas Cathedral. She is keenly interested in arts and education, and her work across both includes stints at Akademi South Asian Dance UK and Benslow Music Trust. Additionally she worked for Edition Peters in their sales department before joining the Association of British Choral Directors as their Training Manager. Penny currently sings at Eton Lower Chapel, St Andrews Fulham Fields, Wimbledon Choral Society, Londinium and Vocal Constructivists, and continues her vocal studies with Ian Kennedy.