Live reviews

We are back at the Barbican next Saturday for their concert performance of Alcina. As usual with their operas in concert, the cast seems to be going through some changes. But what is highly interesting is that we seem to be getting the role of Oberto sung by a boy soprano. It was written for a talented boy soprano, William Savage, who went on to sing a number of roles for Handel including (as a baritone) the title role in Imenio. But casting Oberto as a boy is not the sort of authenticity opera houses usually give us.

Last Saturday we used the Barbican's Waterside Cafe for the first time since its re-vamp, it is now called the Food Hall. They seem to have improved the flow round, somewhat. But the new seating is still cramped and is laid out in such a way that the audience on Saturday, generally older than us, seemed to find confusing. Somehow the old layout did the same thing. Perhaps the designers don't consider older people when they design such places?