Music: Gaetano Donizetti Libretto: Salvadore Cammarano Director: Alessandro Talevi Reviewer: Barbara Michaels A stunning revival for Welsh National Opera’s take on Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux – one of the least known of the great composer’s operatic works (over seventy in total). Definitely a case of “last is best” for WNO’s presentation of the third of the so-called ‘Tudor Trilogy’, despite being ...
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Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Emanuel Schikaneder English translation: Jeremy Sams Director Dominic Cooke Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Mozart’s sardonic fairy-tale The Magic Flute, with its contending forces of good and evil, has more than a hint of the pantomimic, but is none the worse for that, consisting as it does of some of the composer’s most memorable arias and lyrical ...
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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 ...
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Music and lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Gregory Maguire Adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman Director: Joe Mantello Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Flying monkeys, a huge cast and multi changes of scene – there’s plenty of glitz in Wicked, billed as the prequel to the ever-popular Wizard of Oz and projecting the dark side of the coin. What could be more ...
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Music: Prokofiev Choreography: Matthew Bourne, OBE Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Justly famed for his innovative choreography, Matthew Bourne seldom disappoints. His Cinderella, is no exception, as long as you are prepared to ditch any preconceived ideas regarding the traditional treatment of the story. Cinderella is a love story and still a pivotal ingredient of Bourne’s darker New Adventures production, but in ...
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Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Peter Wright Director: David Bintley Reviewer: Barbara Michaels One of the stars in the firmament of the Birmingham Royal Ballet company, their production of The Sleeping Beauty, first staged by the company in 2010, is one of the best. Not surprisingly, it remains an important part of their repertory, and is, ...
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Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Book and Lyrics: Don Black and Christopher Hampton Director: Nikolai Foster Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Billy Wilder’s 1950s film, set in the late 1940s/1950s about an ageing movie star whose career has faded along with her looks, is the basis for Sunset Boulevard the musical. Norma Desmond (Ria Jones) is living in the past, desperately pretending to ...
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Opera: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Lorenzo de Ponte Original Director: John Caird Revival Director: Caroline Chaney Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Welsh National Opera’s production of Don Giovanni was damned with faint praise when it was brought to the stage seven years ago. The main issue at that time – as has happened all too frequently with other productions of this musically ...
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