Senbla Archives - North West End UK

25Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

La Traviata – Opera House

Ellen Kent’s current revival of her original production relishes its traditional 19th Century roots and delivers a truly musical feast to dine upon at whose heart lies a love story that draws upon Alexandre Dumas the Younger’s real-life doomed love affair with well-known courtesan, Marie Duplessis. We open with Violetta (Viktoria Melnyk), aided by her friend Flora (Yelyzaveta Bielous) hosting a lavish party where she is introduced by Gastone (Ruslan Pacatovici) to his friend, Alfredo Germont (Davit Sumbadze), a fervent admirer, who is more concerned for her failing health than her escort, Barone Douphal (Vitalii Cebotari). When Alfredo declares his love for her she wonders if he could be the one amidst her desire to be free to live her life. A year on and Alfredo and Violetta have be...

22Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

La Bohème – Opera House

Ellen Kent’s current revival of her original production perfectly captures the emotion and drama at the heart of Puccini’s timeless masterpiece of unforgettable music that tells of love, friendship, and death, under the direction of maestro Vasyl Vasylenko. Set in the Latin Quarter of Paris in about 1830, it is Christmas Eve when we meet four struggling bohemians living in a garret: a poet, Rodolfo (Davit Sumbadze); a painter, Marcello (Iurie Gisca); a philosopher, Colline (Valeriu Cojocaru); and a musician, Schaunard (Vitalii Cebotari) who arrives having had some good fortune and they agree to celebrate by dining at Café Momus. They are interrupted by their landlord, Benoît (Eugeniu Ganea) but cleverly trick him into revealing he has been playing around which allows them to throw him o...

10Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Madama Butterfly – Empire Theatre

Ellen Kent’s current revival of her original production adds layers of tone and colour to further enhance this sensitive and moving portrayal of Puccini’s devastating tragedy about a young geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer. Marriage broker Goro (Ruslan Pacatovici) shows US naval lieutenant Pinkerton (Davit Sumbadze) 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 (Yelyzaveta Bielous), 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 (...

Madama Butterfly – Opera House, Manchester

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 sacri...

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 promises...

8Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Ellen Kent: Carmen – Floral Pavilion

Carmen is a four-act opera by French composer Georges Bizet, first performed in Paris on 3rd March 1875 with audiences initially objecting to the wild and immoral behaviour on view. Sadly, Bizet's sudden death in June meant he did not get to see its resounding success in Vienna later that year and its subsequent international acclaim. It is now one of the most popular and frequently performed operas. Set in Seville, Spain around 1820, Carmen tells the story of the downfall of Don José (Sorin Lupu) a naïve corporal who falls head over heels in love with Carmen (Katerina Timbaliuk), a seductive, free-spirited gypsy girl. The infatuated Don José abandons his childhood sweetheart, Micaela (Alyona Kistenyova), and neglects his military duties much to the annoyance of his senior officer Zunig...