Puccini Archives - North West End UK

5Apr

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

La Fanciulla Del West – Opéra de Lyon

Puccini is renowned for serving up negative consequences for his leading female characters, so it was with some relief and pleasant surprise that in what he considered his best opera, this Wild West girl decides who she wants and gets it, gun in hand. Created in 1910 at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, this is its first presentation in Lyon with conductor Daniele Rustioni passionately matching the vitality of the music to the violent and elementary feelings unravelling on stage under the direction of Tatjana Gürbaca as we explore questions about justice, forgiveness, and love. During the California Gold Rush in a frontier mining town populated by ruthless bandits and tough-talking but good-hearted miners, remarkable female tavern-keeper Minnie (Chiara Isotton), the miners, and the cynica...

27Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Madama Butterfly – Royal Opera House

Director Daisy Evans’ revival is spirited but like Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s original production, the butterfly never flies as freely as the accompanying music in Puccini’s devastating tragedy about a young geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer. Marriage broker Goro (Ya-Chung Huang) shows US naval lieutenant Pinkerton (Joshua Guerrero) around the home he will share with his bride-to-be in Nagasaki, although American Consul Sharpless (Lauri Vasar) warns him of the tragic consequences that may follow. The Butterfly duly lands in the form of young Japanese girl Cio-Cio-San (Asmik Grigorian) supported by maid Suzuki (Hongni Wu), and they are married by the Commissioner (Romanas Kudriašovas). Her love makes her willing to sacrifice everything which sees her disown...

Madama Butterfly – Opera House, Manchester

13Jan

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Madama Butterfly – Opera House, Manchester

The heartbreaking beauty of this opera is perfectly presented by Director and Producer Ellen Kent in this sensitive and moving portrayal which captures passing moments of innocence and naïve humour but whose final scene touched me deeply. Marriage broker Goro (Yevhenii Vaskiv) shows US naval lieutenant Pinkerton (Giorgi Meladze) around the home he will share with his bride-to-be in Nagasaki, although American Consul Sharpless (Iurie Gisca) warns him of the tragic consequences that may follow. The Butterfly duly lands in the form of young Japanese girl Cio-Cio-San (Elena Dee) supported by maid Suzuki (Natalia Matveeva), and they are married by the Commissioner (Vitalii Cebotari). Her love makes her willing to sacrifice everything which sees her disowned by her uncle, a Bonze (Valeriu Co...

20Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: La rondine – The Lowry

The curtains opens to 1920’s Paris in director James Hurley’s take on Puccini’s take of the La Traviata tale and with the backdrop of Leslie Travers rich and glamorous set, suitably illuminated by Paule Constable and Ben Pickersgill, we meet Magda (Galina Averina), the mistress of a wealthy banker, Rambaldo (Philip Smith), but when the poet Prunier (Elgan Llŷr Thomas) reads her palm and predicts that like la rondine – the swallow – she will travel south in her pursuit of happiness, the die is cast for what is to come. When she meets the young Ruggero (Sebastien Guèze), glamour soon turns to decadence as she follows him to the nightclub Bulliers where they fall in love and decide to run away to the south of France, and with Prunier equally smitten with Magda’s maid, Lisette (Claire Lees), ...

Puccini’s Il trittico – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

23Mar

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Puccini’s Il trittico – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Puccini’s Il trittico is part of Scottish Opera’s 60th Anniversary programme. The company aims is “to lay the treasures of opera at the feet of the people of Scotland”. It certainly succeeds with this triple treasure of shorts. Death unites this triptych, but the mood of each showcases Puccini’s inventive mind and creative breadth: aching thwarted love (Il Tabarro); misguided penance and cruel inhumanity (Suor Angelica); the delicious absurdity of human relationships (Gianni Schicchi). If one piece doesn’t touch your sensibility, then the others must, surely. This Scottish Opera team is creative. Director, Sir David McVicar, houses Puccini’s music in stunning sets (designers Charles Edwards), costumes to delight (Hannah Clark), perfect lighting (Ben Pickersgill) and a fantastic orch...

Turandot – The Metropolitan Opera, New York

8May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Turandot – The Metropolitan Opera, New York

The Met Opera’s latest faithful revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1987 production remains a sight to behold along with every other sensory overload you can imagine as the volume is most definitely turned up to 11 and beyond. In legendary Peking, any prince seeking to marry Princess Turandot (Liudmyla Monastyrska) must answer three riddles: if he fails, he will die. Among the crowd Calàf (Yonghoon Lee) discovers his long-lost father, Timur (Ferruccio Furlanetto). As the latest failed suitor goes to his death, the crowd implore the princess to spare him, but she orders the execution to proceed. Calàf is transfixed by her beauty and decides to win her heart. Timor and the slave girl Liù (Ermonela Jaho) as well as the ministers Ping, Pang, and Pong try to discourage him. Whilst the three m...

5May

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Madam Butterfly – Liverpool Empire

If captivating story arcs of love, deception and tragedy are your thing, you don’t want to miss this. The timeless plot of Madam Butterfly takes your heart on an emotional rollercoaster and showcases the human voice in a way that must be heard to be fully appreciated. How are The Welsh National Opera delivering a production that brings this to the fore as well as evolving the interpretation of Puccini’s masterpiece? Directed by Lindy Hume, the new tour provides an altogether more gritty – more realistically raw – interpretation of an opera that has stood the test of time. Some people may feel the traditional expectations of opera shouldn’t be tampered with or be apprehensive about how such a work could be adjusted effectively; this is the mindset I held upon first seeing this revised v...

10Apr

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Madama Butterfly – Opera House, Manchester

Madama Butterfly is a staple of the operatic repertoire, so it is hard to believe that the original two-act version was so poorly received at its premiere in 1904 at La Scala in Milan. Puccini rewrote it in three acts to great success before reverting to the two-act formula that we see performed today. Marriage broker Goro (Ruslan Pacatovici) shows US naval lieutenant Pinkerton (Vitalii Liskovetskyi) round the home he will share with his bride-to-be in Nagasaki, although American Consul Sharpless (Vladimir Dragos) warns him of the tragic consequences that may follow. The Butterfly duly lands in the form of young Japanese girl Cio-Cio-San (Elena Dee) supported by maid Suzuki (Irina Sproglis), and they are married by the Commissioner (Vitalii Cebotari). Her love makes her willing to sacr...

8Apr

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Tosca – Opera House, Manchester

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Puccini, structured as a through-composed work, with arias, recitative, choruses and other elements musically woven into a seamless whole. Set in Rome in June 1800, the city is threatened by the advancing army of Napoleon Bonaparte. In the inside of the church of Sant' Andrea della Villa, Cesare Angelotti (Eugeniu Ganea), former Consul and now an escaped political prisoner, has taken refuge. He hides on the arrival of a Sacristan (Valeriu Cojocaru) before the painter Mario Cavaradossi (Vitalii Liskovetskyi) appears to continue work on his portrait of Mary Magdalene, based on a blonde-haired woman who is in fact Angelotti's sister, and he compares her to his dark-haired lover, the singer Floria Tosca (Elena Dee). Cavaradossi promise...

27Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Madama Butterfly – Royal Opera House

A staple of the operatic repertoire around the world, this was my third Madama Butterfly this year although in contrast to the first two live productions, this was a televised performance of ROH’s 2017 offering, directed by Moishe Leiser and Patrice Caurier. We open with marriage broker Goro (Carlo Bosi) showing US naval lieutenant Pinkerton (Marcelo Puente) round the home he will share with his Butterfly bride-to-be. Pinkerton is obsessed about possessing her even if he crushes her fragile wings, whilst American Consul Sharpless (Scott Hendricks) warns him of the tragic consequences his game could have. The Butterfly duly lands in the form of young Japanese girl Cio-Cio-San (Ermonela Jaho) supported by maid Suzuki (Elizabeth DeShong), and they are married by the Commissioner (Gyula Na...