Handel's Alcina, Barbican | reviews, news & interviews
Handel's Alcina, Barbican
Handel's Alcina, Barbican
An unforgettable night for lovers of the Baroque - and the jumpsuit
Sunday, 05 December 2010
The bizarrely brilliant Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova stole the show
Classical music does not get any cooler than mezzo Vesselina Kasarova. She jived. She grooved. She shuffled. She shimmied. She possessed the Barbican stage last night, an awesome black jumpsuit hanging off her rangy, kinetic figure, her neck sliding about like an Indian dancer's, her feet (in kitten heels) spinning like a jazzer's, her bullying arms posturing and prodding, her mouth flashing its whites like a primate's. Her voice? Extraordinarily weird, moving, honest, explosive. Her Sta nell'Ircana was a theatrical moment of the year.
Classical music does not get any cooler than mezzo Vesselina Kasarova. She jived. She grooved. She shuffled. She shimmied. She possessed the Barbican stage last night, an awesome black jumpsuit hanging off her rangy, kinetic figure, her neck sliding about like an Indian dancer's, her feet (in kitten heels) spinning like a jazzer's, her bullying arms posturing and prodding, her mouth flashing its whites like a primate's. Her voice? Extraordinarily weird, moving, honest, explosive. Her Sta nell'Ircana was a theatrical moment of the year.
Echoing the madness is Minkowski's impeccable orchestra, looping its way round and round with a Purcellian intensity
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Opera
The Butterfly House, Clonter Opera review - Puccini in biographical briefs
The life and many loves of the composer told with his own music
ll Segreto di Susanna/Pagliacci, Opera Holland Park review - on with the motley, out with the fags
An intriguing comic partner for the great backstage melodrama
First Person: trans opera singer Lucia Lucas on Tippett’s 'New Year' and her life in music
The baritone’s success with Birmingham Opera Company has led to further reflections
theartsdesk at the Buxton International Festival - power and glory in early Verdi
An enjoyable surprise in ingenious Handel oratorio staging
First Person: Katharina Kastening on directing slimline Bizet in a year rich in 'Carmen' productions
Peter Brook's 'La Tragédie de Carmen' further reimagined at Buxton
Orlando, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Barbican review - madly beautiful
Concert format finds the humanity in Handel's magic pantomime
Le nozze di Figaro, Garsington Opera review - fine-tuned telling it as it is
Youthful leads add to the pleasures of Mozart's greatest comedy in perfect surroundings
Giulio Cesare, Glyndebourne review - every number a winner from dazzling revival cast
David McVicar’s celebrated Handel returns in the highest style
theartsdesk at Smetanova Litomyšl - three fascinating operas and a masterpiece superbly vindicated
Smetana 200 celebrated with a feast on a scale only possible in his native Czechia
Il Trittico, Welsh National Opera review - another triumph for a hard-pressed company
Puccini's varied demands met con bravura
The Merry Widow, Glyndebourne review - fun and frolics in the Embassy
Lehár upstaged but still triumphant
Giulio Cesare, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival review - characterful, lustrous Handel on parade
An infinitely various cast compels as the splendour falls on castle walls
Comments
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...