ROH
Die Zauberflöte, Royal Opera review – enjoyable revival of much loved productionWednesday, 13 September 2017
This is the sixth revival of David McVicar’s production of Die Zauberflöte at Covent Garden since its debut in 2003. It was heard most recently in 2015, and is modestly described in the Royal Opera’s own publicity as a “classic”. Having not seen it... Read more... |
The Exterminating Angel, Royal OperaTuesday, 25 April 2017
"But is any of this normal?," asks poor Beatriz at the end of Act One. Of course not. She and 14 other grand creatures are crossing the space of an aristocratic drawing-room from which, they are coming to realise, there is no escape. At the same... Read more... |
Balanchine's Jewels, Royal BalletMonday, 03 April 2017
Balanchine's Jewels is catnip to dedicated ballet lovers. A homage, faithful and brilliant as only a master could make, to three different styles of choreography and three different national sensibilities, it's as dense, expertly carved and... Read more... |
Wayne McGregor triple bill, Royal BalletFriday, 11 November 2016
"My mission is to create new dance with new music and new design that is intimately plugged in to the world we live in today. I am motivated to make contemporary work that speaks of now and that is totally present-tense," Wayne McGregor explains in... Read more... |
Anastasia, Royal BalletThursday, 27 October 2016
The reception of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Anastasia has some similarities with that accorded the Berlin asylum patient who some believed to be the lost Romanov Grand Duchess. For supporters who wanted to believe in the fairytale, Anna Anderson's... Read more... |
The Nose, Royal OperaFriday, 21 October 2016
Even that most unpredictable of fantasists Nikolay Gogol might have been surprised to find his Nose, wandering far from the face of Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov, sung by a high tenor in an unlikely operatic adaptation of his wackiest story. Give the... Read more... |
Così fan tutte, Royal OperaFriday, 23 September 2016
Prospects hadn't seemed that great for this new Covent Garden Così. Could Semyon Bychkov, powerful earth-and-fire conductor of Richard Strauss's darker operas, possibly find the right proportions of air and water in Mozart? Would German director Jan... Read more... |
The Taming of the Shrew, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera HouseThursday, 04 August 2016
What do women want? Ballet plots are not the best guide, since the main desiderata – a well-paying job, coffee dates with girlfriends, not to die young of a broken heart – are rarely the lot of ballet heroines. Comedies at least tend to have the not... Read more... |
Swan Lake, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera HouseSaturday, 30 July 2016
"If you know anything about dance," I was told last night by an aged balletomane at the Royal Opera House, "you know that Russian ballet companies are the best." If this is true then the Bolshoi Ballet, biggest of the Russian companies, in Swan Lake... Read more... |
Pet Shop Boys, Royal Opera HouseThursday, 21 July 2016
Anyone remember the Boobahs? They were the less successful cousins of the Teletubbies, from the same production house. They were puffy, fat, primary-coloured humanoids who bounced endlessly around in bizarre choreographed dance routines. They were... Read more... |
Il Trovatore, Royal OperaWednesday, 06 July 2016
That often-repeated truism about Verdi's craziest melodrama, that it needs four of the world's greatest voices, makes no mention of acting ability. Given the top-notch international approach to this kind of opera, impressively fielded by what's... Read more... |
Werther, Royal OperaSaturday, 25 June 2016
All 23 of Massenet's mature operas boast memorably melodious quarters of an hour and fastidious orchestration, so why Werther’s special status as a repertoire staple? Three or four great arias may have been enough to clinch it. There’s also the fact... Read more... |
