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Composer: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave Conductor: Gheorghe Stanciu Director: Ellen Kent Reviewer: James Clark The Public Reviews Rating: Ellen Kent’s reinvention of La Traviata with the internationally acclaimed Ukranian National Opera of Kharkiv  is typical of other East European national productions, though somewhat missing any real passion between the performers and lacking in explosive energy. [...]

Music by Giacomo Puccini in a new version by Robert Chevara and Kfir Yefet Director – Robert Chevara Reviewer – Jeffrey Mayhew The Public Reviews Rating: A chamber version of a Puccini opera is a brave undertaking and the sweep and drama and the complex orchestral textures of the original might not be best served by a piano, [...]

Writer: Hugo von Hofmannstahl Music: Richard Strauss Director: David McVicar Reviewer: Elizabeth Vile The Public Reviews Rating: This revival of the 2008 production at the London Coliseum of Der Rosenkavalier tells the comic story of a passionate young man, a beautiful young woman, a melancholic older woman and a rampant old man. Serious themes of arranged marriages, infidelity [...]

Music: George Frideric Handel Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haym Director: Tim Albery Reviewer: Nicola Harrison The Public Reviews Rating: ‘Converse with her had an irresistible charm and her presence… had something stimulating about it. There was sweetness in the tones of her voice and her tongue like an instrument of many strings could readily turn to whatever language she [...]

Writer: Engelbert Humperdinck Translator & Director: Lewis Reynolds Reviewer: Michael Gray The Public Reviews Rating: This much-loved fairytale opera had very domestic origins. In recent years various regietheater interpretations have lost sight of these roots, so it is good to see the folky, child-centred focus restored in this lovely pocket version by Open Door Opera, at the King’s [...]

Baritone and Director: Thomas Guthrie Pianist: David Owen Norris Reviewer: Jeffrey Mayhew The Public Reviews Rating: Schubert’s brilliant and original song cycle achieved its final form in 1828 so, apart from Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte of 1816, was a very early example of the genre. The 24 songs are settings of Wilhelm Mϋller, originally for tenor but [...]

Composer: Rossini Librettist: Cesare Sterbini Translator: Robert David Macdonald Director: Giles Havergal Conductor: Simon Phillippo Reviewer: Ann Bawtree The Public Reviews Rating: The Welsh National Opera was in its usual excellent form at Southampton’s huge Mayflower Theatre on December 1st. Playing to a virtually capacity audience it has only one more performance of “The Barber of Seville” to [...]

Composer/Librettist: Leos Janacek Conductor: Gareth Jones Director: Katie Mitchell Reviewer: Marina Spark The Public Reviews Rating: The opening notes of the Welsh National Opera’s ‘Katya Kabanova’ beautifully hint at the tale of woe that unfolds over the opera, composed by Leos Janacek. The storyline follows Katya Kabanova, a woman trapped in both a loveless marriage and a moralistic [...]