Reviews — Opera Spy

Mar 29

Mar 29 Marriage of Figaro at the English National Opera

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro was premiered in Vienna in 1786. It’s a 4 Act opera buffa, with the libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was written several years after the plot of the Barber of Seville and recounts a single day of madness in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville Spain.

Mar 28

Mar 28 Michael Zaoui Premiere with the Aurora Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

David Buchler

What a privileged evening this was.

Michael Zaoui, banker, is a governor of the South Bank. At the age of 14 he tried to join conducting classes at the Paris Music Institute and was instantly rejected. This rejection has lived with him ever since and was only cauterised with this concert, which was Michael’s premiere with the baton. He has worked hard every day over a year on his dream to conduct, and was helped in his efforts by the wonderful Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music. In his ‘dream come true’ moment he was incredibly lucky to not only be the first – even trial – concert at the re-opening of the new Queen Elizabeth Hall, which has been closed for 2.5 years, but also had the privilege of conducting the wonderful Aurora Orchestra, who will be the resident orchestra at the QEH.

Mar 25

Mar 25 Macbeth at the Royal Opera House

David Buchler

Royal Opera House

Verdi’s first version of Macbeth was completed in 1847. It was his first Shakespeare play that he adapted for the operatic stage. This was a golden period of composition by Verdi stretching 16 years, which saw him produce 22 different operas, including, amongst others, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata.

Mar 17

Mar 17 Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci at the Geneva Opera House

David Buchler

First staged as a double bill in New York in 1893, these two operas have been part of the standard opera repertoire as a duet ever since. Geneva Opera provides us with two very contrasting productions, which made for a varied but interesting musical evening.

Mar 16

Mar 16 La Traviata at the English National Opera

David Buchler

English National Opera

La Traviata had a somewhat complicated beginning. This opera – The Fallen Woman – is a Verdi opera in three acts, adapted from the novel La Dame aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas. It opened in 1853 at La Fenice in Venice. Despite the Composer’s wish for a contemporary setting, the local authority insisted that the action be set in the early 18th century and it wasn’t until the 1880s that a more contemporary production was staged. In the original production, the acclaimed soprano singing the lead of Violetta was booed because she was considered to be too old (at 38) and too overweight to credibly play a young woman dying of consumption!

Mar 14

Mar 14 From the House of the Dead at the Royal Opera House

David Buchler

Royal Opera House

Gosh, how depressing! Leos Janacek wrote his opera, From the House of the Dead, in the year of his death in 1928. The opera is effectively a play within a play, set in a Siberian prison, where individual prisoners narrate episodes of their lives.

Mar 1

Mar 1 A Midsummer Night's Dream at the English National Opera

David Buchler

English National Opera

A Midsummer Night's Dream, the opera composed by Benjamin Britten was set to a libretto, adapted by both the Composer and the Singer, Peter Pears, from the play by William Shakespeare. It was premiered in 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Welcome to Opera Spy

Mar 29 Marriage of Figaro at the English National Opera

Mar 28 Michael Zaoui Premiere with the Aurora Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

Mar 25 Macbeth at the Royal Opera House

Mar 17 Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci at the Geneva Opera House

Mar 16 La Traviata at the English National Opera

Mar 14 From the House of the Dead at the Royal Opera House

Mar 1 A Midsummer Night's Dream at the English National Opera

Sign up for Opera Spy updates