Lucia di Lammermoor at the English National Opera

Lucia di Lammermoor at the English National Opera

David Buchler
English National Opera

David Alden’s 2008 staging is brought back to the Coliseum for its second revival, with an outstanding cast, a compelling translation into English by Amanda Holden and clever moving sets by Charles Edwards.  This is a truly interesting performance of a subject – forced marriage, here of Lucia – which is relevant in some communities even today.  However, this is the Scottish Highlands and the dark and unattractive costumes, designed by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, are a testament to Highland imagery. 

Verdi's Requiem at the Royal Opera House

Verdi's Requiem at the Royal Opera House

David Buchler
Royal Opera House

In a remarkable career spanning six decades, Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901, composed nearly 30 operas, at least half of which are at the core of today’s repertoire.  His Requiem, premiered in 1874, stands as a unique testimony to his artistic and human vision and is a setting of the text for the Roman Catholic mass for the dead as it existed until its revision in 1970. 

Porgy & Bess at the English National Opera

Porgy & Bess at the English National Opera

David Buchler
English National Opera

Porgy & Bess, the folk opera composed by George Gershwin with the libretto by the original author, DuBose Heyward and Lyricist, Ira Gershwin, was first performed in Boston in 1935.  The libretto tells the story of Porgy, a black disabled street beggar living in the Charleston slums, attempting to rescue his love, Bess, from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and her drug dealer, Sporting Life. 

Götterdämmerung at the Royal Opera House

Götterdämmerung at the Royal Opera House

David Buchler
Royal Opera House

Götterdämmerung, the last of the four operas making up Wagner’s Ring Cycle, held our breath throughout the six and a half hours of operatic intensity. Keith Warner’s production comes to its sizzling end as the ring and the gold is once more returned to its home with the rhinemaidens, beautifully, and finally fleshily, played by Lauren Fagan, Christina Bock and Angela Simkin.