19th century
Maria Stuarda, Royal Opera HouseSunday, 06 July 2014![]() The Royal Opera House’s Maria Stuarda is the third major production of Donizetti’s historical opera in less than two years. First there was David McVicar’s kitschy-traditional production for the Met, then there was Rudolf Frey’s baffling concept-... Read more... |
Shopgirls: the True Story of Life Behind the Counter, BBC TwoWednesday, 25 June 2014![]() We last saw Dr Pamela Cox presenting BBC Two's Servants: the True Story of Life Below Stairs. Having done the academic's-eye-view of Upstairs Downstairs, she has now moved on to the world of Mr Selfridge in this three-part survey of the rise of the... Read more... |
Manon Lescaut, Royal OperaWednesday, 18 June 2014![]() Puccini’s racy first masterpiece, like its successor La bohème, should feel like an opera of two halves – the first full of youthful exuberance, the second darker and ultimately tragic. The contrast here, alas, was between vivacious performers and a... Read more... |
The Pearl Fishers, English National OperaTuesday, 17 June 2014![]() Before curtain-up on the opening night of this revival of Penny Woolcock’s production of The Pearl Fishers, ENO's head of casting arrived on stage with a microphone. No doubt delightful company in person, he was an unwelcome sight here. Sophie Bevan... Read more... |
Vert-Vert, Garsington OperaWednesday, 11 June 2014![]() How delicious that Garsington Opera has turned to Offenbach. The main impetus for this cheering development, taken up by Artistic Director Douglas Boyd, is conductor David Parry, who both translates (extremely well) and wields the baton.Parry was... Read more... |
Benvenuto Cellini, English National OperaFriday, 06 June 2014![]() Tumblers, confetti, stiltwalkers, flags, crowds, a giant skull, and that’s just the overture. If anyone thought that Terry Gilliam might struggle to match the scope, scale or impact of 2011’s Damnation of Faust with his follow-up then they’re... Read more... |
Peter Grimes, Grange ParkSaturday, 31 May 2014![]() It takes a brave opera company indeed to stage Peter Grimes this summer. Benjamin Britten’s 2013 centenary celebrations took us to “peak Britten”, with performances of all his major works as well as the unprecedented, outstanding Grimes on the Beach... Read more... |
A Million Ways to Die in the WestWednesday, 28 May 2014![]() Nodding to John Ford, Shane and almost every other western ever made, baby-faced writer/director/producer/lead Seth MacFarlane (Ted) replaces the shocking genius of Blazing Saddles with swearing and jokes about bodily functions in a fast, funny, get... Read more... |
Penny Dreadful, Sky AtlanticWednesday, 21 May 2014![]() We've had endless waves of vampires, zombies and Frankenstein's monsters, so why not bundle them all together under the same doomily Gothic roof? Welcome to Penny Dreadful, created by writer John Logan and producer Sam Mendes (who previously worked... Read more... |
Eugene Onegin, GlyndebourneMonday, 19 May 2014![]() Is this the same Tatyana whose life depended on every word of her letter to straw idol Onegin at the 2009 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition? Then, Ekaterina Shcherbachenko – she’s since dropped the first “h” in transliteration – gave the most... Read more... |
Yende, Vaughan, Cadogan HallFriday, 16 May 2014![]() Lovely singer, consummate pianist, shame about the programme. “Art song” is a rather prissy term, but we could have done with a few to ballast a diet of old pop – French chansons, Italian canzonettas, Spanish canciones, Victor Herbert tralala. Even... Read more... |
In SecretMonday, 12 May 2014![]() As Literary Review's "Bad Sex in Fiction Award" recognises, there's not a lot that's funnier and more damaging to a story's credibility than an attempt to be sexy that falls flat or, even better, that misfires spectacularly. Some of the most famous... Read more... |
