Opera moments of 2014

Benvenuto Cellini  (c) ENO / Richard Hubert Smith.

Here is our list of our personal opera moments of 2014. It is a very partial list, selecting the operas and performances which have continued to resonate. 

2014 seems to have been a vintage year for rarities, and for Handel. We managed to take in rarely performed operas by Berlioz, Rossini (three in all) and Weber, and a total of four Handel operas (including one we'd never seen before). Of course, there were horrors too but this is a celebratory list of what was best in the opera we reviewed in 2014.

Man of the moment

• Michael Spyres, who turned in a superb title role on Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and then returned for Donizetti's Les Martyrs. http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/astonishing-benvenuto-cellini-at-london.html  and  http://www.planethugill.com/2014/11/donizettis-les-martyrs-from-opera-rara.html. He also impressed in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at the Proms: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/08/prom-50-beethoven-missa-solemnis.html

 Hit of the year

• Cavalli's L'Ormindo in a sympathetic and theatrical production by Kasper Holten, with the Royal Opera House at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the Globe: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/04/pure-magic-lormindo-at-globe.html

Theatrical Excitement

• Opera North's Coronation of Poppea combined period style performance with modern theatrical verve: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/11/the-coronation-of-poppea.html
• English National Opera's theatrically daring production of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini showed just how brilliant the opera can be: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/astonishing-benvenuto-cellini-at-london.html

Style

• 1940's period for a welcome revival of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur from Opera Holland Park: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/07/adriana-lecouvreur.html
• Hollywood glamour in act one of Verdi's La Traviata at Grange Park Opera, and a superb performance from Claire Rutter: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/la-traviata-at-grange-park-opera.html

Handel operas of the year

• Ottone in an exotically stylish production from English Touring Opera and James Conway showed that you can take Handel's Opera seria seriously: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/10/handels-ottone-at-english-touring-opera.html
• Alice Coote, Joyce DiDonato and Anna Christy showed how to make a concert performance of Alcina hot on drama: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/10/handels-alcina-with-didonato-and-coote.html
• And a fine cast made Glyndebourne's revival of Rinaldo a great treat: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/08/handels-rinaldo-at-glyndebourne.html

Rarities

• New Sussex Opera and director Harry Fehr showed that Weber's Oberon wasn't quite as unstageable as we thought: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/11/staging-rarity-in-sussex-webers-oberon.html
• Opera Rara, conductor Mark Elder gave us a thrilling re-creation of Donizetti's Les Martyrs: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/11/donizettis-les-martyrs-from-opera-rara.html
• A pair of Rossini operas in Cardiff (Guillaume Tell and Mose in Egitto), in imaginative budget productions but with superb casts: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/10/guillaume-tell-in-cardiff.html and http://www.planethugill.com/2014/10/rossini-mose-in-egitto.html
• Another Rossini rarity, Otello, in Buxton; in concert but with a vivid cast: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/07/rossinis-otello.html

Proms moments

• Richard Strauss's Elektra made a superb theatrical climax to a weekend devoted to his operas with Christine Goerke towering in the title role: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/09/prom-59-richard-strausss-elektra.html

First opera

• Julian Anderson's Thebans gripped and made us wish for more: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/05/first-opera-triumph-julian-andersons.html

Young artists

• Christine Collins Young Artists shone in performances of Rossini's Barber of Seville and Britten's Turn of the Screw at Opera Holland Park: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/young-artists-in-il-barbiere-di-sivigla.html and http://www.planethugill.com/2014/07/still-scary-turn-of-screw-christine.html
• And a Handel rarity, Arianna in Creta in a simple but effective production at the London Handel Festival showcased some fine young voices: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/03/handels-arianna-in-creta-at-london.html

Hilary's choice moments

• The Fairy Queen spreads her magic dust at Middle Temple Hall: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/11/sing-as-we-trip-it-fairy-queen-spreads.html
• A shining pearl: Bizet's Pearl Fishers revived by ENO: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/a-shining-pearl-pearl-fishers-at-eno.html
• Birtwistle's Yan Tan Tethera revived by Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/06/it-all-counts-birtwhistles-yan-tan.html
• Henze's Boulevard Solitude in a production linked to Puccini's Manon Lescaut at Welsh National Opera: http://www.planethugill.com/2014/03/fallen-women-boulevard-solitude.html

Elsewhere on this blog:

• New Year's Eve treat:Stile Antico at the Wigmore Hall - concert review
• Perfect combination of words & music: Stephanie d'Oustrac in French melodies - CD review
• Voices, viols and phantoms: John Donne and musical hallucinations at Spitalfields - concert review
• Beneath the brusque exterior: Paul Spicer's biography of George Dyson - book review
• Not yet in focus: Un ballo in maschera at Covent Garden - opera review
• Thoughtful approach: Dufay Masses from Cantica Symphonia - CD review
• Complete change from Christmas classical: Kwartludium with Scanner - concert review
• Brilliance of sound: Bach violin concertos from Giuliano Carmignola - CD review
• 50 Favourite: Brodsky Quartet at Kings Place - concert review
• Revitalising tradition: The Wexford Carols - CD review
• Eclectic Mix: Lux de caelo, Choir of Clare College - concert review
• Thoughtful and imaginative: Plainsong from Portsmouth - CD review
• Serious and Seasonal: Westminster Abbey Choir at Cadogan Hall - concert review
• Saxophone music with balls: The North from Borealis Saxophone Quartet - CD review
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