BALLO (OR A MASKED BALL)
It’s fair to say that OperaUpClose’s Ballo is not going to float the boat of ardent Verdi purists, but everyone else should expect to enjoy it. The latest production from the award-winning group has...
View ArticleDON PASQUALE
The objective of Pop-Up Opera is to make opera “enjoyable and inviting without sacrificing the quality of music”, so reads the programme. Not an easy task some may think, particularly those who are new...
View ArticlePOP-UP OPERA – RITA / LA SERVA PADRONA – Brunnel Museum, London.
Pop-Up Opera, founded by Clementine Lovell in 2010, brings classic opera to the masses – where ever they may be: performing in varying and exciting venues that range from boats and bars to the Brunnel...
View ArticleTOSCA – Soho Theatre, London.
There is some relieved satisfaction to be gained when viewing an opera in a scaled back English translation, instead of in its traditional Italian libretto. If unfamiliar with the plot there are no...
View ArticleKISS ME, FIGARO – Riverside Studios, London.
In a world where musical theatre is dominated by what has been coined as ‘jukebox musicals’, crow-barring existing songs together to a usually shallow and paper thin plot, it was perhaps inevitable...
View ArticleCOSI FAN TUTTE – Dalston Department Store, London.
Bare white stone walls, whose chill is only partially enlivened by a couple of lounge lamps, and an acoustic handicap of a low ceiling cannot negate the jubilant warmth, efficacy and potency of Pop-up...
View ArticleLA TRAVIATA – Soho Theatre, London.
For those unfamiliar with OperaUpClose, they are a production company who specialise in reviving classic operas in a heavily scaled back way. The beauty of this is that it opens up the world of Opera...
View ArticleDIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL – The Bull, London.
People still go a little bit loopy upon hearing facts about the classical composers, rock stars of their day. Did you know, for instance, that on the site of the current Soho Theatre there was a hall...
View ArticlePRINCESS IDA – Finborough Theatre, London.
It has been a very good start to the year for Gilbert and Sullivan fans with a few productions already hitting London stages to positive reception. This production of Princess Ida is set to join them,...
View ArticleTHE PIRATES OF PENZANCE – Richmond Theatre, London.
Having previously enjoyed great worldwide success, this all-male production of The Pirates of Penzance is embarking on a UK tour. It is a lot of fun on many levels and it’s easy to see why it has such...
View ArticleL’ITALIANA IN ALGERI – Thames Tunnel Shaft, London.
There’s a section about five minutes long, just before the end of the first act of L’Italiana In Algeri, where everything about this production is in perfect alignment. That’s not to say the rest of it...
View ArticleALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND – Holland Park, London.
Until the 1st of August, Will Todd and Maggie Gottlieb‘s operatic version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is being performed amongst the trees in the beautiful Holland Park. On a warm sunny day,...
View ArticleTOMMY – Greenwich Theatre, London
A lot of goodwill greets the first revival of The Who’s Tommy for 19 years, but to paraphrase their contemporaries, The Rolling Stones, audiences might find little in the way of satisfaction. Sadly,...
View ArticleMisch-Masch & Peter and the Wolf – Arcola Theatre, London.
Presented as part of the Arcola Theatre’s 2015 Grimeborn season (a programme of opera – new, redeveloped, rare and traditional), Basement Orchestra’s performance of these two pieces with a narrative...
View ArticleTHE WANTON SUBLIME AND THE MEDIUM – Arcola Theatre, London.
Part of the Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre, the double-bill of Peter Maxwell Davies’s a cappella one-act opera The Medium, and Tarik O’Regan’s The Wanton Sublime is adventurous and artistic....
View ArticleDRESS REHEARSAL – OSO Arts Centre, London.
The idea behind Dress Rehearsal is simply to give some aspiring opera singers the opportunity to sing some of the big songs from the repertoire, tieing those performances together with some loosely...
View ArticleTHE RINSE CYCLE – Charing Cross Theatre, London.
In The Rinse Cycle, Unexpected Opera, the Theatre company that asks emerging opera singers to transform opera into an accessible, often hilarious, cabaret, mocks Wagner as only Wagner-fans can. That...
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