ENO
Aida, English National Opera review - heroine almost saves a dismal dayFriday, 29 September 2017
If the best is the enemy of the good, then the excellent is also the enemy of the "meh". And if you can stomach Verdi's Aida, go and see English National Opera’s new production for its central performance by Latonia Moore. In what’s become her... Read more... |
Carousel, London Coliseum review - 'Katherine Jenkins is game, Boe out-acted by wig'Wednesday, 12 April 2017
“Then I’ll kiss her so she’ll know.” At the sound of his ringing voice, the girls part to reveal him standing there, a hapless monument of rumpled charm. The audience relaxes in pleasure as an easeful actor joyfully shows what you can do with a... Read more... |
Partenope, English National OperaThursday, 16 March 2017
It's time again for surrealist charades at the nothing-doing mansion. Christopher Alden's Handel is back at ENO, making inconsequentiality seem wondrous. Christian Curnyn's conducting sets the tone, with orchestral playing as light as air, and a new... Read more... |
The Winter's Tale, English National OperaTuesday, 28 February 2017
After a Royal Opera performance of Birtwistle's The Minotaur, a friend spotted Hans Werner Henze in the foyer and had the temerity to ask that annoying question "What did you think?" "Very competent and extremely well performed," came the reply.... Read more... |
Rigoletto, English National OperaFriday, 03 February 2017
This was supposed to be a triumphant return – one final encore for the production so good that audiences just couldn’t let it go. Instead, this 13th revival of Jonathan Miller’s Mafia Rigoletto seems like an apology. The designs are handsome as ever... Read more... |
Mørk, Bergen Philharmonic, Gardner, Cadogan HallSaturday, 21 January 2017
The Bergen Philharmonic recently appointed Edward Gardner as its Chief Conductor – ENO’s loss is Bergen’s gain. He is contracted to 2021, so this is the start of a long relationship. On the strength of this concert, the London leg of a UK tour, it... Read more... |
Best of 2016: OperaThursday, 29 December 2016
It was the best and worst of years for English National Opera. Best, because principals, chorus and orchestra seem united in acclaiming their Music Director of 14 months, Mark Wigglesworth, for his work at a level most had only dreamed of (“from the... Read more... |
ENO's Marvellous Miller in picturesSunday, 20 November 2016
It should have been unmodified rapture: a gathering of English National Opera team members old and new celebrating the doyen of the company's best-selling productions. And, as has always happened with the artistic side of the company, this loving... Read more... |
Lulu, English National OperaThursday, 10 November 2016
After a day of sheer pain, would it be endless night or cathartic relief at ENO? Both, must be the answer, and much more, all at once. Iconoclastic Frank Wedekind's "earth-spirit" Lulu, exploited as a street-child but now able to turn the tables for... Read more... |
Martyn Brabbins: a safe pair of hands at ENOFriday, 21 October 2016
No-one can easily replace Mark Wigglesworth as Music Director of English National Opera: ask any of the musicians working there and you'll find they're all heartbroken. That said, they could not have chosen a nicer man or a better all-round musician... Read more... |
Don Giovanni, English National OperaSaturday, 01 October 2016
Pace-perfect musical articulation and meaningful surprises in the direction: both were to be expected after the conductor-generated sludge and the production overkill of the new Royal Opera Così fan tutte. Mark Wigglesworth has form in Mozart at ENO... Read more... |
Proms at...Roundhouse: London Sinfonietta, GourlaySunday, 21 August 2016
Some enchanted afternoon in Camden Town… the Proms returned to the Roundhouse after four decades with a dreamlike fusion of sound, space and light. Ron Arad’s Curtain Call – a 360° installation of 5,600 sillicon rods – encircled the London... Read more... |
