Oh that all opera bouffe could be delivered with such panache: Offenbach's La Belle Hélène from New Sussex Opera

Offenbach: La belle Helene - Catherine Backhouse, Anthony Flaum - New Sussex Opera
Photo Robert Knights

Offenbach La Belle Hélène; Hannah Pedley, Anthony Flaum, Robert Gildon, Paul Featherstone, Charles Johnston, Jennifer Clark, Catherine Backhouse, dir: Jeff Clarke, cond: Toby Purser; New Sussex Opera
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 5 December 2019 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
The whole evening was a delight: Offenbach's operetta in a delightful new production

New Sussex Opera chose to mark the two hundredth anniversary of Offenbach’s birth with a production of La Belle Hélène and for the first time has collaborated with another company Opera della Luna, this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. Having begun its run in Lewes, on Thursday 5 December it rocked up at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. Hannah Pedley was the Queen of Sparta, she of the fatal beauty, and Anthony Flaum was Paris come to claim his prize. Paul Featherstone, Charles Johnston and Robert Gildon were Menelaus, Agamemnon and Calchas. Jennifer Clark was Helen’s attendant Bacchis and Catherine Backhouse, the son of Agamemnon, Orestes. Toby Purser conducted this new version that was arranged, translated and directed by Opera della Luna’s Artistic Director Jeff Clarke.

Offenbach: La belle Helene - Hannah Pedley, Anthony Flaum - New Sussex Opera (Photo Robert Knights)

“My dream was always to found a mutual insurance society for the combating of boredom” - so said Offenbach, according to the blurb.

A ravishing and heart-rending evening: Massenet's Manon from the Met, Live in HD

Massenet: Manon - Metropolitan Opea (Photo Metropolitan Opera)

Massenet Manon; Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Artur Ruciński, dir: Laurent Pelly, cond: Maurizio Benini; Metropolitan Opera Live in HD at Barbican
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 26 October 2019 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
Massenet's tragedy done on thrilling style at the Met

I don’t know about Manon, but after last week’s offering from the Met., it was my turn to be completely dazed by the difference a week can make. Saturday 26 October 2019 Metropolitan Opera Live in HD transmission (seen at Barbican Screen 1) of Massenet’s Manon was une autre paire de manches. Massenet’s straightforward and to the point retelling of this quintessentially French tale of a beautiful young woman who succumbs to the bright lights of the beau monde with tragic results was done in thrilling style in Laurent Pelly’s striking production set, in this iteration, during the Belle Époque. Lisette Oropesa was the childish innocent avec charme, with Michael Fabiano as the impetuous and tortured Chevalier des Grieux. A particularly oleaginous Carlo Bosi was Guillot de Morfontaine, while Artur Ruciński charmed (although I’m not sure he should have) as Manon’s roguish cousin Lescaut. Kwangchul Youn was Comte des Grieux. Maurizio Benini conducted.

From the moment you saw the grey austerity of Chantal Thomas’ designs the tone was set. You could be in no doubt about the thrust of Laurent Pelly’s view. Acts 1 to 4 were grim voyeuristic pits dominated by men. The stench of misogyny and hypocrisy was palpable, scenes were filled with hostility and poison. Everyone, including the women, seemed complicit in our heroine’s demise.

Massenet: Manon - Metropolitan Opea (Photo Metropolitan Opera)

Maurizio Benini’s reading got off to a cracking start with a vibrant full voiced opening taking full advantage of the orchestra’s lush string sound and some very fine woodwind playing. There were times though when I would have wished for a lighter hand at the helm. He could have ceded to the singers more often, and we did end up losing some of the opera’s simple melodic charm.

Love and potions on Barry Island: Donizetti's The Elixir of Love at the King's Head Theatre

Donzetti: The Elixir of Love - Matthew Kellett
King's Head Theatre (Photo Bill Knight )

Donizetti The Elixir of Love; Alys Roberts, David Powton, Matthew Kellett, Themba Mvula, dir: Hannah Noone, David Eaton: King's Head Theatre
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 5 July 2019 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
A co-production between the King's Head Theatre and Opera’r Ddaig transposes Donizetti's perennial favourite to the Welsh seaside

The Elixir of Love (l”elisir d’amore) is a melodramma giocoso by Gaetano Donizetti. The original Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani after Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Daniel Auber’s Le philtre. The opera premiered on 12 May 1832 in Milan.

King’s Head Opera and Opera’r Ddraig joined forces to premiere this new take on the perennial favourite on Monday 30 September 2019 in a new English adaptation at the King’s Head Theatre directed by Hannah Noone. Adina and her friend Gina were sung by Alys Roberts and Caroline Taylor. David Powton was our gauche hero Nicky (Nemorino) with Matthew Kellett as the itinerant Dulcamara. Themba Mvula was the rakish Brandon (Belcore). David Eaton was Music Director.

A considerable company achievement: David Blake's Scoring a Century from British Youth Opera

David Blake: Scoring a Century - British Youth Opera (Photo Robert Workman)

David Blake Scoring a Century; Hugo Herman-Wilson, Holly Marie Bingham, Florian Panzieri, dir: Keith Warner, cond: Lionel Friend; British Youth Opera at the Peacock Theatre
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 6 September 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
David Blake's operatic entertainment disappoints but receives a fine performance

David Blake: Scoring a Century
British Youth Opera (Photo Robert Workman)

This must have sounded like a dream when it was first mooted. Lionel Friend and Keith Warner collaborating on a work originally conceived as part of the millennium celebrations. With a libretto by Keith Warner and composed by David Blake Scoring a Century has been described as 'low entertainment for highbrows, or vice versa'. Originally intended to debut at Portland Opera, Oregon, the 9/11 attacks caused a creative hiatus - a collective drawing in of horns that scuppered its premiere.

The work tells the history of Mr and Mrs Jedermann, a couple of song and dance merchants. There is dialogue – lots, and songs, and from time to time the action is interrupted by mini-operas which contain the serious heart of the show. More musical comedy than opera it reviews the twentieth century in twenty ‘Panels’. Our pair of Everymen, the Jedermann’s stumble through the politics and social change of the last one hundred years, never ageing and only reluctantly adapting to the times. Their sole aim is to provide some songs and snatches, to raise a laugh or provoke a tear.

On March 4, 2010 the opera received its World Premiere at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, by students from Birmingham Conservatoire, directed by Warner and conducted by Lionel Friend. On 31 August, 4 and 6 September British Youth Opera revived David Blake and Keith Warner's Scoring a Century again at the Peacock Theatre. Mr. and Mrs. Jedermann, the ageless fulcra of the piece, were played by Hugo Herman-Wilson and Holly Marie Bingham with their wingman and composer Bertold played by Florian Panzieri. Lionel Friend was once more in the pit.

A passionate evening: Bellini's I Capuleti ed I Montecchi

Bellini: I Capuleti ed I Montecchi - Flora McIntosh, Chiara Vinci - Grimeborn Festival (Photo Lida Crisafulli)

Bellini: I Capuleti ed I Montecchi; Chiara Vinci, Flora McIntosh; James Ioelu; Anthony Flaum; Pauls Putnins, dir: Lysanne van Overbeek, Kelvin Lim; Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 2 September 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Bellini's Tragedia Lirica at the Grimeborn Festival

Bellini: I Capuleti ed I Montecchi
Flora McIntosh, Chiara Vinci
Grimeborn Festival (Photo Lida Crisafulli)

I Capuleti ed I Montecchi is a Tragedia Lirica in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with a libretto by Felice Romani. In their version the ill-fated lovers, from the Capulet and Montague families, are members of opposing political factions, the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Romeo, the Montecchi leader, has killed the son of his rival Capellio. Giulietta is betrothed to Tebaldo but is already smitten with Romeo. Defying their households for love, Romeo and Giulietta meet their tragic fate.

Over the years assumptions have been made about the imputed influence of Shakespeare on Bellini’s work. Amongst the other more likely contenders credited with being the main source of inspiration Matteo Bandello is most often cited, including by Romani’s wife. But Romani and Nicola Vaccai’s own Giulietta e Romeo for Milan was based on a play of the same name by Luigi Scevola written in 1818. The tomb scene from Vaccai’s opera has on occasion been used in Bellini’s.

In any event the opera's gestation was hurried. Bellini was in Venice to prepare a production of Il Pirata, when he was given notice that the contract for a new opera would fall to him. Writing it for the available singers, and ruthlessly ‘rescuing’ and reworking music from the poorly received Zaira, it is not the best of Bellini. Structurally it feels unbalanced and lacking in characterisation. The dramatic impetus is controlled by the men with precious little talk of love. The best music goes to the women albeit one en travesti.

So, whether, as a popular entertainment, you can ignore its weaknesses and appreciate its uncomplicated storytelling is a matter of personal taste as much as the quality of its performers. The performance of Bellini's I Capuleti ed I Montecchi at the Arcola Theatre on 2 September 2019 was presented by Over the Pond as part of the Grimeborn Festival in a production directed by Lysanne van Overbeek. The star-crossed lovers were sung by Flora McIntosh and Chiara Vinci. Capellio and Tebaldo were James Ioelu and Anthony Flaum. Pauls Putnins was Lorenzo. Piano accompaniment was by Kelvin Lim.

The production began with a simple enough premise.

Less can sometimes be more: Verity Lane's 'The Crane' at the Grimeborn Festival

Verity Lane: The Crane - Grimeborn Festival

Verity Lane The Crane; Hester Dart, Tomoko Komura, Mirei Yazawa, Kiku Day, Beibei Wang; Grimeborn Festivala at the Arcola Theatre
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 22 August 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
A Noh Theatre-inspired multi-media opera installation

Variously described as a "mystical opera" and a "multi-media opera installation", Verity Lane’s production of The Crane at this year’s Grimeborn Festival, a lacework of images, movement and music, takes inspiration from Noh Theatre with a certain amount of cross-cultural pollination. The company is made up of performance artists and musicians from Japan, Denmark, China and London with the animator Rowan O’Brien hailing from Ireland. The music and libretto, both English and Japanese, is by Verity Lane.

At the Arcola Theatre performance of Verity Lane's The Crane on Saturday 24 August, the Crane was Mirei Yazawa, the Old Lady and Old Man were Hester Dart and Tomoko Komura. The ethnomusicologist Kiku Day played 'Japanese flutes' and Beibei Wang percussion. The chorus were Kasia Andrzejewska, Rebecca Hoodless, Dominic Mattos, Rekkha Ray and Holly Slater.

A spine tingling performance from Simone Victor in the title role of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at this London Bel Canto Festival showcase performance

Poster for the premiere of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda at La Fenice, Venice in 1833

Bellini Beatrice di Tenda; Simone Victor, Brian Hotchkin, Taryn Surratt, Sergio Augusto, London City Philharmonic Orchestra, Olsi Qinami; London Bel Canto Festival at St George's Hanover Square
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 22 August 2019 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
Bellini's neglected melodrama serio showcasing the young talents from the London Bel Canto Festival

The real-life story of Beatrice Lascaris di Tenda, a woman who by all accounts had a reputation for honesty and modesty, and was seen by some as a martyr, served as inspiration for many writers among them Carlo Tebaldi-Fores whose opus served as Bellini’s inspiration.

Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda is a melodrama serio from a libretto by Felice Romani. Set in the Castle of Binasco, Milan, it tells the story of Beatrice di Tenda widow of the Count of Biandrate the Condottiero Facino Cane. Following the Condottiero’s death Beatrice makes an impetuous marriage to Duke Filippo Maria Visconti thus conferring on him her wealth, cities and the soldiers of Facino. Whether by dint of her age, her power or reputation Filippo tires of his wife and as so commonly happened back in the day a denunciation for adultery followed. Plus ça change.

Sadly neglected, Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, his tale of naked ambition and the abuse of power turned up on Thursday 22 August 2019 at the church of St. George’s Hanover Square courtesy of the London Bel Canto Festival. Part of the festival’s raison d’etre is to teach and champion young artists in the Bel Canto repertoire and singers from around the world came to take part.

At Thursday’s performance the Danish soprano Simone Victor who has appeared at the festival in previous years, eliciting fulsome praise from the Guardian’s Stephen Pritchard, sang the titular Beatrice. Brian Hotchkin and Taryn Surratt, from the USA, sang Filippo and Agnese whilst the Mexican Canadian tenor Sergio Augusto, currently in the UK sang Orombello. Iranian born Sam Elmi was Anchino and Bombay born Shakti Pherwani was Rizzardo. Olsi Qinami conducted the London City Philharmonic Orchestra.

For all that St. George’s is a striking building with its Flemish glass, William Kent Last Supper and historical connection to Handel, it’s not what you’d call a natural fit acoustically or physically for a Bel Canto opera – one of the poor choristers had to make a particularly undignified entrance, though she was rewarded with a round of applause for her efforts.

Prom 26: Mozart's Requiem, Brahms and Wagner from BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Prom 26 - Nathalie Stutzmann, BBC National Orchestra of Wales  - BBC Proms (Photo BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

Brahms Tragic Overture, Wagner Prelude & Liebestod; Mozart Requiem; Fatma Said, Kathryn Rudge, Sunnyboy Dladla, David Shipley, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC National Chorus of Wales, Nathalie Stutzman; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 7 August 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Large-scale Mozart in a programme exploring love and loss

The programme for Prom 26 on Wednesday 7 August 2019 explored the themes of love and loss. The tempestuous Tragic Overture - Brahms’s 'reversed Sonata', Wagner’s orchestral version of the Prelude and Liebestod 'the zenith of musical art' followed in the second half by 'the nation's favourite Mozart' Requiem in D minor.

This concert of high drama saw a charismatic Nathalie Stutzmann conduct the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Fatma Said, making her proms debut, Kathryn Rudge, Sunnyboy Dladla and David Shipley were the soloists with the BBC National Chorus of Wales.

Mozart: Requiem - Fatma Said, Kathryn Rudge, Sunnyboy Dladla, David Shipley,
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC National Chorus of Wales - BBC Proms (Photo BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - Mozart's The Magic Flute broadcast from Glyndebourne

Mozart: The Magic Flute - David Portillo - Glyndebourne (Photo Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. / Bill Cooper)

Mozart The Magic Flute; David Portillo, Björn Bürger, Sofia Fomina, Brindley Sherratt, Caroline Wettergreen, dir: Barbe & Doucet, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ryan Wigglesworth; Broadcast live from Glyndebourne OPera
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 4 August 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Barbe & Doucet's picture-book production broadcast live

On Sunday 4 August Mozart’s The Magic Flute was broadcast live from the 2019 Glyndebourne Festival. This new production by the renowned directing/design duo Barbe & Doucet took a playful, if not always illuminating, look at the opera’s gender politics. A young cast of singers led by Caroline Wettergreen (Queen of the Night), Sofia Fomina (Pamina), Björn Bürger (Papageno) and David Portillo (Tamino) were joined by Glyndebourne regular Brindley Sherratt as Sarastro. With Ryan Wigglesworth conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

The assertion during the preamble that The Magic Flute contains racism and sexism is scarcely news to any regular opera goer, but the fact that Barbe & Doucet had previously eschewed invitations to stage it, as a result, seemed a tad odd. Would the audience have imputed that they too were racist and sexist for having dared tackle the work? And they chose to carve a career in Opera? What on earth were they expecting from an eighteenth-century Singspiel, Mary Wollstonecraft?

Mozart: The Magic Flute - Martin Snell, David Portillo, Björn Bürger, Thomas Atkins
Glyndebourne (Photo Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. / Bill Cooper)

An artist obscured by his own mythos: Ron Howard's documentary 'Pavarotti'

Pavarotti; directed: Ron Howard, with Bono, Herbert Breslin, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Harvey Goldsmith, Andrea Griminelli, Angela Gheorghiu, Nicolette Mantovani, Zubin Mehta, Anne Midgette, Cristina Pavarotti, Guiliana Pavarotti, Lorenza Pavarotti, Madelyn Renee, Adua Veroni; Release date 15 July 2019
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 11 June 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Ron Howard's straight forward documentary about Luciano Pavarotti feels like something of a lost opportunity

Whatever your views on the soubriquet “King of the high C’s”, the phenomenon that was Pavarotti bestrode the worlds of classical and pop music like a colossus. The son of a baker with a penchant for scarves, his "voice of platinum” and his infectious charm propelled him ever upward in the musical firmament until he succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 70. Ron Howard’s documentary Pavarotti salutes the man and his talent.

Ron Howard takes a straight forward chronological approach, using talking heads, archive footage and photographs to retell the story of his life and career and it is good, as far as it goes. Some of the received wisdom about Pavarotti’s life stretches credulity so it seems perfectly legitimate, even laudable, to take a fastidiously balanced approach to these things especially when there is so much ordure disseminated on the interweb. That said, I wondered what sort of audience this was being pitched at? I didn’t care which but I’d rather it had been settled upon.

With a running time of 115 minutes I’d imagined the "definitive story" would be a work of some heft, a dissection of, if not the man, his art. The potted synopses of some of the most popular operas in the repertoire told another story. What could have been a sparkling, witty even poignant reflection on his life became a dry retelling of his career, more notable for what was left unsaid.

Most of the participants including his family and other notables offered insights that felt scripted rather than improvised and amidst the occasional moments of toe-curling pretention there seemed no space for the nicely turned anecdotes that would have brought the thing to life. Whilst his sometimes-challenging behaviour and peccadillos were briefly alluded to, everyone was on their relentless best and dullest behaviour.

What made this simple man, this self-confessed "peasant "who did not know how to write a cheque" tick?

The topsyturvydom effervesced: HMS Pinafore from Charles Court Opera

Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore - Joseph Shovelton, Hannah Crerar, Jennie Jacobs, Alys Roberts, Catrine Kirkman, Matthew Kellett - Charles Court Opera (Photo Robert Workman)

Gilbert & Sullivan HMS Pinafore; Joseph Shovelton, Matthew Palmer, Philip Lee, Matthew Kellett, Alys Roberts, Jennie Jacobs, John Savournin, David Eaton; Charles Court Opera at the King's Head Reviewed by Anthony Evnas on 16 April 2019 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
Charles Court Opera returns to the King's Head with more topsyturvydom

Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore - Matthew Kellett -
Charles Court Opera (Photo Robert Workman)

Tuesday 16 April saw Charles Court Opera return to the King’s Head Theatre with their latest take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. Sullivan’s joyous tunesmithery with its musical japes is a perennial favourite with audiences and, not surprisingly, a sold-out crowd squeezed into the King’s Head to see a cast of eight strut their stuff. Joseph Shovelton was Sir Joseph Porter and Matthew Palmer, Captain Corcoran. Philip Lee and Alys Roberts were the young lovers Ralph Rackstraw and Josephine, whilst Matthew Kellett and Hannah Crerar were Able Seamen Dick Deadeye and Bobstay. Catrine Kirkman was cousin Hebe and Jennie Jacobs doubled as Sir Joseph’s sister and Little Buttercup. It was directed by John Savournin.

Back in the day taking aim at the navy with this quintessentially English parody of a nautical melodrama would have tickled the fancy with “quaint suggestions” and “unexpected whimsicality”, gently poking fun at social mores. It’s a country mile from today’s satirical asperity.

Not yet down and dirty: English Touring Opera rising to the challenge of Verdi's Macbeth

Verdi: Macbeth - English Touring Opera (Photo Richard Hubert Smith)

Verdi Macbeth; Grant Doyle, Madeleine Pierard, Amar Muchhala, Andrew Slater, dir: James Dacre, cond: Jerry Cornelius; English Touring Opera at the Hackney Empire
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 9 March 2019
Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
A claustrophobic and atmospheric production with performances, as yet, a little to repressed

Verdi: Macbeth - Grant Doyle, Madeleine Pierard
English Touring Opera (Photo Richard Hubert Smith)

Verdi’s psychologically intense portrait of a descent into the womb of hell is a story worthy of Terence Fisher. Devilishly malign, its ferociously expansive music, intoxicating rhythms and ghostly silences make it a real crowd puller.

Goodness knows how a touring company can marshal the forces for Verdi but on Saturday 9 March 2019 English Touring Opera took on the challenge in front of a packed house at the Hackney Empire, with some success. Grant Doyle was the eponymous anti-hero and Madeleine Pierard the dastardly Lady M. Amar Muchhala, Andrew Slater and David Lynn sang Macduff, Banquo and Malcolm. Ed Hawkins was a marvelously orotund Doctor and Tanya Hurst the nurse. It was conducted by Gerry Cornelius.

Notwithstanding the excellent chorus and Amar Muchhala’s nice turn as the old soak Macduff, in truth, this is a three-character opera; Mr and Mrs M and the witches. Here in James Dacre's production the witches very clearly rule the drama, appearing unnervingly like the denizens of a supernatural Nonnatus House directing proceedings with quiet authority and clearing up other people’s mess. I unexpectedly liked the idea neatly sidestepping any misgivings about the alleged style of the witches’ music.

If Macbeth is all about the drama, then it was set up perfectly in the claustrophobic and atmospherically lit environs of a concrete bunker bristling with weaponry.

Verdi in Oman: La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, Muscat

The Royal Opera House, Muscat

Verdi La Traviata; Kristina Mkhitaryan, Arturo Chacón Cruz, Plácido Domingo, dir: Marta Domingo, Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Massimo di Palermo, cond: Domingo Hindoyan; Royal Opera House, Muscat Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 9 February 2019 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
A sparkling Kristina Mkhitaryan rescues a performance by numbers

The Royal Opera House, Muscat

What to do after a day lounging in the sun on the Omani coast? I know it’s a filthy job but somebody’s got to do it. Turns out, if you are of a mind, you can hie thee to the technical marvel that is the Royal Opera House, Muscat. The multiform theatre can transform from an intimate 1,100 seat opera house into an 850-seat shoebox-style concert hall with the push of a button. It’s impressive. This modern Omani palace of limestone and stucco rises from the craggy desert surroundings sparkling in the twilight. The interior replete with teak panelling and marble draws its visitors towards the grand staircase and into the auditorium.

The performance at the Royal Opera House, Muscat on Saturday 9 February 2019 was a production of Verdi's La Traviata with a long history. It premiered at the Opera Royal de Wallonia in 1997, a co-production with Washington and Los Angeles Opera. Now a Royal Opera Muscat production with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, it was lent some star power by Placido Domingo as papa Germont. The tragic heroine was sung by the Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan with the Swiss-Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón Cruz as Alfredo and Irish-Canadian mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta as Flora. It was conducted by Domingo Hindoyan and directed by Marta Domingo.

Requiem Masses for murdered royalty

Execution of Queen Marie Antoinette

Tristia: Requiems for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Plantade, Cherubini; Le Concert Spirituel Choir and Orchestra, Hervé Niquet; Barbican Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 25 January 2019 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Masses in memory of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, one familiar, the other less so

On Friday 25 January, in the Barbican Hall, Le Concert Spirituel and its founder Hervé Niquet presented the post-revolutionary Requiems in memory of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, who were executed in 1793. In the relative peace of 1815, their remains, or what was purported to be, were reinterred in the Bourbon crypt at Saint-Denis by command of Louis XVIII. For the occasion Cherubini’s C minor Requiem for the King was performed. The Plantade Requiem for Marie Antoinette was not heard until 1823 at a ceremony in Paris to mark the 30th anniversary of the Queen’s execution.

A triumphal Messiah

The Hanover Band & Chorus, Andrew Arthur

Handel Messiah;
Erica Eloff, Timothy Morgan, Bradley Smith, Edward Grint, The Hanover Band and Chorus, Andrew Arthur; Kings Place
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 17 December 2018 
Star rating: 5.0 (★★★★★)
Anthony enjoys a dramatically vivid, dynamic and beautiful Messiah from The Hanover Band

Edward Grint, The Hanover Band, Andrew Arthur

It’s Christmas, so naturally out rolls the behemoth that is Messiah, and on Monday 17 December 2018 The Hanover Band and Chorus under the direction of Andrew Arthur brought their period expertise to Hall One of Kings Place. They were joined by the soprano Erica Eloff, tenor Bradley Smith, alto Timothy Morgan and bass Edward Grint.

Formed in 1980 The Hanover Band’s primary objective is for audiences to get ‘a better feeling for what earlier music actually sounded like’. The idea that there is ‘a method’ that can be applied ‘scientifically’ to magically reproduce a composer’s ‘original intention’ has always seemed a stretch too far but given the fusty excrescences that Messiah has acquired in the last few hundred years a greater fidelity to the original sound can only be a good thing. That said, striving for authenticity by the slavish adherence to baroque practice is like Marmite (other spreads are available) and can render, to me at any rate, the ‘authentic’ colourless. But from the first bars of the Sinfony it was plain that The Hanover Band’s idea of ‘authentic’ would be anything but dull.

Truly scrumptious: the choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor in music for Advent

Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor

Music for Advent; Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor, James Vivian, Luke Bond; Cadogan Hall Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 4 December 2018 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
An eclectic programme for Advent as part of Choral at Cadogan

On Monday December 4 in the Neo-Byzantine surroundings of Cadogan Hall the choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor under the direction of James Vivian with organist Luke Bond performed a programme of all things Advent. The eclectic choice of repertoire spanned more than 1000 years of music from the triumphant acclamation of Laudes Regiae to Arvo Pärt’s vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary Bogoróditse Djévo

The choir’s largely a cappella programme kicked off with a somewhat underpowered Laudes Regiae. Placing the choir off-stage rendered this responsorial acclamation a little flat. I can imagine this working wonderfully in a church, but in the dry acoustic of the Cadogan Hall the impact was lost. Thankfully when the choir did emerge, they wasted no time in showing us what they were made of in Byrd’s Rorate caeli with a dulcet light and refined touch. But there were times in the first half when it all felt a little too decorous. Aided by some programming choices, I felt parked in a stylistic cul-de-sac and ached for a little more musical variety. Weelkes, that notoriously drunkard blasphemer, for example, wrote a simple but passionate anthem in Rejoice in the Lord that to my mind would have benefitted from a bit more oomph.

If the first half was stylistically a little samey, not so the second. The smorgasbord of delights after the interval finally heralded a celebration of Advent. From Brahms’ lush Es ist das Heil through Up, awake and away and Goldschmidt’s A tender shoot to Verdi’s delicious Ave Maria and Pärt’s emotionally charged Church Slavonic Bogoróditse Djévo all classily done.

A Mahler Piano Series: Echoes of the East

Gustav Mahler in 1892

A Mahler Piano Series: Echoes of the East; Iain Farrington, Stephanie Marshall, Richard Dowling; 1901 Arts Club Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 6 November 2018 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
Mahler's symphonic song-cycle in a version for piano alongside music which influence him.

The 1901 Arts Club is housed in a converted schoolmaster's residence hidden away on Exton Street, Waterloo. Inspired by Europe's salon culture this elegant little venue is currently the location for a Mahler piano series. Pianist and composer Iain Farrington’s concert series explores the bulk of Mahler’s symphonic music arranged for solo piano and a selection of contemporary musical styles that influenced him.

On Tuesday 6 November 2018, concert number nine showcased music inspired by the exoticism of Asia. The first half explored how the exotic tonality of the East influenced Mahler’s contemporaries which ranged from the sublime to the faintly ridiculous, with Iain Farrington being joined by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Marshall and tenor Richard Dowling.

Iain Farrington opened with a supple and sparkling performance of Arensky’s Etude on a Chinese theme, which uses a pentatonic figure shared by Puccini’s Turandot, followed by a delicately dreamlike performance of Satie’s evergreen Trois Gnossiennes. Debussy’s sound world is altogether more impressionistic. A fan of Gamelan music, Pagodes was full of colour and texture. It conjured up images redolent of oriental landscapes. Picking up the pentatonic baton Ravel’s enchanting childhood world of Laideronnette beguiled with its airy lightness. The stand out was the immersive Gamelan by Leopold Godowsky. Gamelan, part of Godowsky’s first “phonorama” languidly pulled me into its smooth and elegant musical landscape. Its repeated cycles acted with hypnotic effect, rising to a peak of operatic grandeur and on to a tranquil and ethereal end.

Independent Opera Showcase Recital at Wigmore Hall

Michael Mofidian, Svetlina Stoyanova, Ida Ränzlöv, Claire Lees,
Nino Chokhonelidze (Photo Independent Opera)

Independent Opera Showcase; Claire Lees, Michael Mofidian, Svetlina Stoyanova, Ida Ränzlöv, Nino Chokhonelidze; Wigmore Hall Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 19 October 2018 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
Four young singers in a mixed recital with opera, song and a new commission

Independent Opera was founded in 2005 and has built a reputation for supporting outstanding young artists entering the profession as William Bollinger, the Chairman, pointed out “to grow talent, you must empower it. This is the purpose of Independent Opera.” So, believing passionately about supporting new artists the organisation encourages operatic talent, through mentoring and financial support.

For its showcase event, the Independent Opera’s Scholars’ Recital at the Wigmore Hall on Friday 19 October the four young singers Claire Lees (soprano), Michael Mofidian (bass-baritone), Svetlina Stoyanova (mezzo-soprano) and Ida Ränzlöv (mezzo-soprano) were accompanied by the prizewinning pianist Nino Chokhonelidze. The programme included Rossini, German lieder, Scandinavian song and a world premier from the Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds.

Hansel and Gretel (a nightmare in eight scenes)

Hansel & Gretel: a nightmare in eight scenes - Goldfield Productions
(Photo Still Moving Media courtesy Cheltenham Music Festival)

Hansel & Gretel; Goldfield Productions; Milton Court Concert Hall
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 12 October 2018 Star rating: 3.0 (★★★)
Dark and quirky: multimedia interpretation of Hansel & Gretel

On Friday 12 October 2018, Milton Court Concert Hall, in Silk Street, was the venue for Goldfield Productions’ multimedia Hansel and Gretel [see Robert's interview with Kate Romano, Goldfield Productions' artistic director]. It was a mixture of poetry, chamber music, puppetry and shadow play. Inspired by the striking visual creations of artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Simon Armitage’s poetic libretto, given voice by the captivating Adey Grummet, was woven in to Matthew Kaner’s evocative chamber music. Hansel and Gretel were brought to life by the table-top puppeteers Diana Ford and Lizzie Wort whilst the characters of the mother, father and the cathartid witch were created using shadow puppetry.

Described as dark and quirky, that’s just how it should be.

Modified Rapture: Verdi's 'Aida' from the Met

Verdi: Aida - Metropolitan Opera (Photo Metropolitan Opera)

Verdi Aida; Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, dir Sonja Frisell; Metropolitan Opera Live in HD at the Barbican Cinema
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 6 October 2018
Star rating: 4.5
Putting the grand into Grand Opera, the Met's 30 year-old Aida returns striking as ever with a strong cast

Over the years a certain type of monumental stand and sing Opera has attracted some sniffy opprobrium from some quarters. I’m not sure I’d want to survive entirely on a diet of the sort of stuff Verona has been pumping out for the last 100 years either, but there’s clearly still an appetite for the shows that put the grand in Grand Opera. Screen 1 at the Barbican was packed to see the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Verdi's Aida, surely the epitome of Grand Opera, broadcast live on Saturday 7 October 2018.

At Saturday’s performance Anna Netrebko sang Aida with Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris. Aleksandrs Antonenko’s Radames completed the love triangle. The kings of Ethiopia and Egypt were Quinn Kelsey and Ryan Speedo Green with Dmitry Belosselskiy as the High Priest Ramfis. Nicola Luisotti was conducting.

Sonja Frisell’s production is now celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. The colossal sets are certainly spectacular and the technology that allows a seamless move from the grand to the intimate remains impressive even now.