thu 28/03/2024

L'Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, Royal Opera | reviews, news & interviews

L'Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, Royal Opera

L'Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, Royal Opera

Thomas Allen in a star comic turn as Gianni Schicchi

Will UK Gold now be permanently available at the Royal Opera House? Or was Italian TV being beamed into the auditorium last night by mistake? The 1970s scene before us actually just meant the return of Richard Jones’s inspired sitcom treatment of Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi to Covent Garden. Even before the curtain had lifted we were raising a 1970s titter, being prepped for a return to that decade of naughty slap and tickle with an enormous front cloth image of a Viz-like pair of breasts, bursting from their polka-dotted bust darts.
 

Will UK Gold now be permanently available at the Royal Opera House? Or was Italian TV being beamed into the auditorium last night by mistake? The 1970s scene before us actually just meant the return of Richard Jones’s inspired sitcom treatment of Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi to Covent Garden. Even before the curtain had lifted we were raising a 1970s titter, being prepped for a return to that decade of naughty slap and tickle with an enormous front cloth image of a Viz-like pair of breasts, bursting from their polka-dotted bust darts.
 

Comments

"In particular one needs a first-rate comic actress in the role of Concepcion. Ruxandra Donose isn’t that." Rubbish. I hadn;t seen "L’Heure Espagnole" before, but found it nigh on flawless. Ruxandra Donose managed to be both smoulderingly sexy and laugh-out-loud funny. I'd recommend checking out the The Stage or Guardian for a far more appropriate review.

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