Category: Opera
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The Moderate Soprano at the Duke of York’s Theatre review ****
The Moderate Soprano Duke of York’s Theatre, 7th June 1018 There are a couple of weeks to go in the run of David Hare’s The Moderate Soprano at the Duke of York’s Theatre. There are plenty of (discounted) tickets left. You could do a lot worse than seeing this if…
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Caroline, or Change at the Hampstead Theatre review *****
Caroline, or Change Hampstead Theatre, 18th April 2018 How many exceptions does it take before the rule is unproven? I don’t, as a rule, like musicals, as I have oft repeated on these very pages. I absolutely adored this though. That might be because it isn’t your classic show tunes,…
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The Marriage of Figaro at the ENO review *****
The Marriage of Figaro English National Opera, 12th April 2018 It isn’t easy to think of a better opera than the Marriage of Figaro. And, as we culture vultures know, when opera works there is scarcely any entertainment to match it. It is just a shame that opera so rarely…
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From the House of the Dead at the Royal Opera House review ****
From the House of the Dead Royal Opera House, 22nd March 2018 Now this is it what opera is all about. Not just some portly punters, (though a couple of the chaps here were carrying as much timber as me), parking themselves mid-stage and belting out their arias. No here…
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the ENO review *****
A Midsummer Night’s Dream English National Opera, 4th March 2018 Out of a long list of wildly inappropriate events that I dragged BD along to when she was younger perhaps provocateur Christopher Alden’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in this very house was the most egregious. Not because the…
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Satyagraha at English National Opera review ***
Satyagraha English National Opera, 27th February 2018 Finally I have got to see all three of Philip Glass’s seminal operas, Einstein on the Beach (the science-y one), Akhnaten (the religious one) and now this Satyagraha (the political one). Einstein on the Beach was a recreation of the original Robert Wilson…
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Marnie at English National Opera review *****
Marnie English National Opera, The Coliseum, 3rd December 2017 I really don’t understand why the serious broadsheet reaction to Nico Muhly’s new opera has been so lukewarm. They generally seem to have admired the score, commended the ENO Orchestra’s playing under new Director Martyn Brabbins, praised many of the performers…