Robert Hayward Archives - North West End UK

Opera North: Cavalleria rusticana / Aleko –The Lowry

21Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Cavalleria rusticana / Aleko –The Lowry

Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana is usually paired with Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci but director Karolina Sofulak has made an inspired choice to pair it with Rachmaninov’s rarely heard Aleko with some subtle and intricate linking of the two pieces which by and large comes off. In Cavalleria rusticana, it transpires that Turiddù (Andrés Presno) and Lola (Helen Évora) were once lovers, but when he left to join the army, Lola married another man, Alfio (Robert Hayward). Although Turridù finds consolation in the arms of Santuzza (Giselle Allen), his obsessive passion for Lola still burns fiercely as he supports his mother Lucia (Anne-Marie Owens), setting the stage for a tale of faithlessness, jealousy and violence, set in a rural community where the church maintains an iron grip on the souls of...

Opera North: Parsifal – Bridgewater Hall

Opera North’s production of Wagner’s final work for the stage arrives in a blaze of glory from director Sam Brown’s theatrical staging in Leeds but what is served up at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester is much more muted in its dramatisation, and although the work was originally written with the orchestra below the stage to add acoustic and psychological drama, here it was very much centre and fore. Running at just over four hours stage time, Parsifal tells the story of the Knights of the Holy Grail, much of it narrated by a veteran knight, Gurnemanz (Brindley Sherratt). The castle of Monsalvat has been established by Titurel (Stephen Richardson) as a sanctuary for the Holy Grail and the Spear that pierced Christ’s side, before retiring in favour of his son, Amfortas (Robert Hayward), who...

Opera North: Fidelio – The Lowry

The story of Fidelio is a simple one. Leonore (Rachel Nicholls) under the guise of a man (Fidelio) infiltrates a Spanish prison in order to free her husband Florestan (Toby Spence), who is a political prisoner. Meanwhile Don Pizarro (Robert Hayward), the governor of the prison and very man responsible for the wrongful imprisonment of Florestan intends to kill him before Don Fernando (Matthew Stiff) can arrive and uncover the cruelty taking place within the prison walls. The orchestra, conducted by Paul Daniel, was magnificent. Being socially distanced and taking up most of the stage, it was a different setup, and one which the musicians will have grown accustomed too, but the sound was rich, textured and balanced, and I would have been quite content to listen to it all night. O...