Royal Opera House Archives - Page 2 of 3

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

14Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann is the most enduring ‘serious’ opera from a composer better known for his operettas and this 2016 revival of legendary film director John Schlesinger’s sumptuous 1980 production provides the perfect vehicle in which Offenbach’s story – in turn witty, erotic, and macabre – and highly melodious music come together to form a deeply and satisfying whole. Set in the 19th C, the great storyteller Hoffmann (Vittorio Grigòlo) is losing himself to drink. His rival in love, Councillor Lindorf (Thomas Hampson), claims that Hoffmann knows nothing of the heart, and so goads Hoffmann into telling the tales of his three great loves – each destroyed by a villain who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lindorf… First Hoffmann tells of his infatuation for the mechani...

6Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Il Trovatore – Royal Opera House (2017)

Verdi wrote Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) – with libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano – hot on the heels of Rigoletto, with its premiere in 1853 a mere two months before that of La Traviata. German director David Bösch made his UK debut with his original production at the Royal Opera House in 2016 with this revival in 2017 overseen by Julia Burbach. The Count di Luna (Vitaliy Bilyy) loves Leonora (Lianna Haroutounian), but she loves Manrico (Gregory Kunde), the Count’s military enemy. Manrico’s mother Azucena (Anita Rachvelishvili) tells him how her mother was burnt to death for supposed witchcraft against the Count’s baby brother. Azucena intended to throw the baby onto the fire – but blinded by revenge she lost her own child to the flames. The Count captures Manrico and...

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...

27Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Beethoven’s Fidelio – Royal Opera House

Recorded just prior to lockdown and largely unedited, conductor Antonio Pappano introduces a new production of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, from the Royal Opera House, a story of risk and triumph against a backdrop of revolution, with Tobias Kratzer’s new staging, including some dialogue changes, bringing together the dark reality of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution and the conflicts of the modern age to illuminate Fidelio’s inspiring message of a common humanity. This is very much an opera of two halves with Act One in period as Leonore (Lise Davidsen) attempts to locate her husband, Florestan (David Butt Philip) who is a political prisoner incarcerated in a secret dungeon and subject to torture from the governor of the prison, Don Pizarro (Simon Neal). To secure a...

25Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

The Sleeping Beauty – Royal Opera House

‘I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream’. Most people will know the song from Disney’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ but how many people know that the music was actually written 70 years prior to the film’s release and the lyrics were added in 1959 for Disney? Tchaikovsky’s music for the ballet ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ was written in 1889. For anyone who may have never heard of any version of this fairytale before, it tells the story of Princess Aurora. Starting with her christening day, when Carabosse interrupts the ceremony and places a curse on the new princess, meaning she’ll prick her finger on her birthday and die. Luckily, the lilac fairy manages to lessen the curse, to put Aurora and the kingdom into a deep sleep for 100 years, only to be woken by true loves kiss. The ballet consists...

20Jul

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London

Faust – Royal Opera House

Everybody knows the tale of Faust although Gounod’s popular five-act, Parisian grand opera from 1859 is in fact adapted from Michel Carré’s play ‘Faust et Marguerite’ which was itself based on Part I of Goethe’s epic poem Faust. Very much reflective of the nature of Second-Empire Paris at that time, the obvious question is whether its themes remain relevant and recognisable to a 21st C audience. Director David McVicar wisely recognised that human nature doesn’t really change and the issues of sensuality and hedonism, religion and morality, bourgeois consumption versus socialist redistribution, to name but a few at the heart of this opera, continue to go hand in hand, and his richly layered 2004 production for Royal Opera House brilliantly captured these through the artificial edifices ...

12Jul

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London

Romeo and Juliet – The Royal Ballet

I have a confession to make. Before today I had never watched a ballet in full. Sure, I had seen clips, and as a dancer myself (although clearly not a classical one) I’ve seen many contemporary productions, but never a ballet. Such is the benefit of companies such as The Royal Opera House streaming past productions online – you can give yourself new experiences from the comfort of your own home. Despite me knowing nothing about ballet, I am however much more experienced in the works of the Bard and have played Juliet myself on several occasions. For this reason, I found the story very easy to follow, and could clearly identify who each of the characters were. As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, the female characters are few and far between, but in this production the women were given mo...

4Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

La Bohème – Royal Opera House

By the time it was retired in 2015, the Royal Opera’s previous production of La Bohème, directed by John Copley, had notched up 25 revivals in its 41-year history, so the pressure was on for its 2017 replacement, directed by Richard Jones and with sets and costumes by Stewart Laing, for what is one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide. The play is set in the Latin Quarter of Paris in about 1830 where on Christmas Eve we meet four struggling bohemians living in a garret: a poet, Rodolfo (Michael Fabiano); a painter, Marcello (Mariusz Kwiecień); a philosopher, Colline (Luca Trittoto); and a musician, Schaunard (Florian Sempes), who arrives having had some good fortune and they agree to celebrate by dining at Café Momus. They are interrupted by their landlord, Benoît (Jeremy ...

Woolf Works – The Royal Ballet at Royal Opera House

27Jun

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London

Woolf Works – The Royal Ballet at Royal Opera House

Wayne McGregor’s ballet triptych created in 2015 is inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf and contains an original score by Max Richter – superbly performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Koen Kessels – with astounding lighting schemes from Lucy Carter and stunning set designs throughout. Woolf Works recreates the emotions, themes, and fluid style of three of Woolf’s novels beginning with ‘I Now, I Then’ inspired by Mrs Dalloway (1925); then ‘Becomings’ derived from Orlando (1928); concluding with ‘Tuesday’, which draws on The Waves (1931). The three pieces stand alone as distinctly as the works that inspire them although there is a chronology with underlying threads that seamlessly bring them together, most notably the central performance from 52-year old ...

20Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

The Magic Flute – Royal Opera House

Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a wonderful tale of princes, giant serpents, mysterious temples and birdcatchers. An enchanting damsel in distress meets a hilarious nonsensical birdman in this vibrant opera which is one of the most performed in the world today. Conducted by Julia Jones and directed by David McVicar, this funny show has plenty of peril and drama and is performed in the original German with English subtitles. The opera opens with beautifully energetic music before we see Tamino (Mauro Peter) fighting with a giant serpent. The serpent is a well-constructed puppet, controlled by several cast members, and its appearance and the dexterity of the performers mean that it is no surprise Tamino is losing the battle. He loses consciousness before being rescued by three ladies (Rebecc...