Tag Archives: Giuseppe Verdi

Music: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Antonio Somma  Director: David Pountney Reviewer: Barbara Michaels It would seem appropriate, give its close proximity to Valentine’s Day, for Welsh National Opera’s Spring Season to kick off with David Pountney’s new production of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, although, possibly, the assassination of mine host at said ball could hardly be termed desirable. Based loosely ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi  Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave Director: Matthew Richardson Conductor: Rumon Gamba Reviewer: Dominic Corr Seduction, tangled with an overbearing father all play a part in the turmoil of Rigoletto, the hunchbacked jester. The 1851 libretto opera has been revived by the Scottish Opera following Matthew Richardson’s 2011 production. Now, fully escaping its historical censorship, Rigoletto can serve to ...

Music: Giuseppe Verdi Director: Tim Albery Conductor: Richard Farnes Reviewer: Jo Beggs Having been distracted by the war, Gustavo, King of Sweden, returns home desperate to see the love of his life. Trouble is, the woman in question, Amelia, is his best friend’s wife. So begins the simple but powerful tale of a love triangle that is never going to ...

Music: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Antonio Somma Director: Tim Albery Reviewer: Dawn Smallwood Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) is Opera North’s first ever staging of this opera, forming part of the Fatal Passions season this winter.  Verdi’s opera is not as well known compared to his other works such as Aida, La Traviata and Rigoletto, however, it gives the ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi Orchestration: Harry Blake Director/English version: Robin Norton-Hale Musical Director: Elspeth Wilkes Set Designer: Katie Bellman Reviewer: Ron Simpson The question is, “Can you watch OperaUpClose from Row J?” CAST’s first venture into full-length opera was an undoubted success in audience attendance and enthusiasm, but OperaUpClose’s company style, originally formed in the 35-seat Cock Tavern Theatre, had problems ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi  Director: Ellen Kent Conductor:  Vasyl Vasylenko Reviewer:  Scott Matthewman Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco, telling the story of the persecution of Israelites by the Babylonians, has over the decades come to be treated as an allegory for contemporary oppression in Europe. The work’s most famous choral tune, Va, pensiero, better known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, has resonated from ...

Music:   Giuseppe Verdi Lyrics:   Antonio Ghislanzoni   Director:  Ellen Kent Reviewer:  Dawn Smallwood Opera &Ballet International opens Ellen Kent’s Aida on its first evening of its UK Spring Tour at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre.  Verdi’s opera, premiered at Cairo’s Opera House in December 1871, stars an international cast of artists and members of the critically acclaimed Moldovan orchestras. A year before ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi Conductor: Adriy Yurkevych Reviewer: Kris Hallett The King is Dead! Long live the King! Just like in the Shakespearean telling, Verdi’s operatic version of the Scottish play sticks close to the parallel journeys its protagonists go on, Macbeth from unsure war hero to despotic dictator and his wife from cold-eyed pragmatist to tragic heroine. Just like the ...