# Opera in London



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Here's the thread for anything we need to say (or ask) about opera in London. The venues, the plans, reviews, the politics, and any news.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Kasper Holten gives notice to quit Covent Garden in March 2017. No doubt many will cheer. I'm not a fan, particularly of his productions and commissions, but to some degree his modernising approach has had benefits.

http://slippedisc.com/2015/12/breaking-covent-garden-chief-quits/


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

It's said that the artistic director of an opera company spends the first five seasons with productions planned by their predecessor. We have only seen one complete season that can be fully attributed to Kasper: 2014-15 which was very mixed bag critically (lows such as Idomeneo, highs such as Krol Roger and possibly the first ever 'marmite' production at the ROH (Guillaume Tell) that divided the audience between 60% who loved it and 40% who hated it. This season looks like it is faring better, but we won't really be able to evaluate Kasper's contribution to the ROH until a couple of years after he leaves.

N.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

The Guardian writes about ENO's problems.

Not sure that it will survive.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

The solution for London is obvious: 1 opera company & 1 ballet company sharing two houses. The duplication between ENO and ROH is immense. i.e. full time choruses. costume departments, any number of administration and marketing areas.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> The solution for London is obvious: 1 opera company & 1 ballet company sharing two houses. The duplication between ENO and ROH is immense. i.e. full time choruses. costume departments, any number of administration and marketing areas.


I agree that the duplication between ENO and ROH is immense, furthermore England's two top ballet companies are both putting on Nutcracker in London (as I believe they did last year). What sells well at the ROH also sells well for ENO and ENB (despite ENO's reputation for Britten and Handel, their Tosca and Boheme will always sell better). However, I don't think the companies should be merged, perhaps, rather ENO should follow ENB's model and spend half its time at the Collie and the other half touring. Public funding is going to be directed away from London in 2018 and ENO could make a very good bid for ACE funding if they were planning to bring more opera further away from the capital.

London's two opera companies may seem like a luxury, but I am all for more opera in the UK, not less.

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

As the ENO has only 8 productions planned for next year, it's hard to envisage fewers operas short of closing the house. Meanwhile the ROH has a string of unpopular modern stagings. 

What a state things are in! Some radical thinking is certainly needed.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Excellent idea Don F!
I hope this thread gets revived from time to time. I've seen over 200 performances in London and it may surprise people but I feel the audience here is as warm as any I've experienced in Europe. But then I'm biased and I'd welcome observations from those travelling here; about the audience, the theatres, the (high) cost, the ease of booking ..whatever. If this thread has 'legs' perhaps others will start equivalent ones about Cities they know well.

I think people will be amazed at the variety and choice available,

Off the top of my head over the past 33 years I have seen Operas, at many and varied locations.

First the two main Houses that run Opera in just about every month except August (and I'm probably wrong on that).

ROH. Royal Opera House Main and Lindbury Studio theatre aka Covent Garden
http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/tickets
Beautiful building with a long history although the house has been rebuilt several times. Refurbished in the last 20 years it looks like an Opera House should and works well. 
The acoustics are on the whole pretty good BUT booking late you are most likely to be offered tickets in the Amphitheatre and I avoid all but the first few rows. It can seem a little remote and dry there and I much prefer the Slips where for £15 you can sit with the real Opera nuts. I started a thread on "Where do you like to sit in the theatre" but can't find it now. If anyone can put a link there were some useful comments on best places to view from.
It's very expensive (compared to many other cities) despite getting a pretty large subsidy. Standards are generally high and it maintains it's place as one of the top handful of international houses attracting the day's top stars. Production styles used to be conservative but that's not always so today, so do some research if you're not a "friend of Reggie". I have just rejoined as a Friend. This will allow me to book earlier than the general public and I hope to get Restricted View Seats which have always seemed the best value to me. 
The Lindbury is a fine small space for experimental work and sits happily in the same building.

ENO English National Opera. Their theatre is The Colosseum

Not so old, not so venerable. In truth the ENO is in severe trouble. The books, despite another large subsidy, are nowhere close to balancing and it's lost its unique reason for being. About 25 years ago it was a much more exciting house, always sung in English and with some excellent 'modern' productions. Now with surtitles de riguer(sic) and the ROH also doing modern productions it struggles to find an identity.
The building itself is one of the largest Theatres in London and despite that the acoustics are pretty good. It is a lovely theatre but even though it also had a refurbishment fairly recently, it doesn't quite compare with its neighbour, being about 1km away..
I've had so many great nights there I'm probably biased, but I would urge any visitor to London to see something at both houses. They are so desperate that tickets can often be picked up on the day from the half price theatre booth in Leicester Sq. http://www.tkts.co.uk/about-tkts/ I've also seen posts on here about discount vouchers - can anyone give more details? Right now they need bums on seats!
For me the acoustic on the Dress Circle are fantastic.

If you do visit London use the web to research whats on. Try http://www.timeout.com/london (though I suspect theres better sites?) I'd be amazed it a week goes by without Opera being presented at another venue. Some of the other venues I recall with affection.

The Royal Albert Hall, where both Verdi and Wagner conducted. IN 2013 I saw Daniel Barenboim's Proms Ring cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin - 4 nights of brilliance. The Proms run July to September and you have to book early but I've also seen Glyndebourne and Covent Garden perform there, and a 100% commercial production by Raymond Gubbay of Madame butterfly. Huge but due to circular shape it works and always feels like an event.
http://www.royalalberthall.com/

Hackney Empire - a small but beautiful theatre within walking distance of my house. English Touring Opera open their tours here, because London is where the Critical attention is focussed.
http://englishtouringopera.org.uk/tour-dates/ 
They also get seasons from Eileen Kent touring company featuring eastern European artists and orchestra and traditional sets. I believe they survive with no subsidy.

Holland Park Opera
Haven't been for a few years but have enjoyed several productions e.g. Iris or Betly but best was Hansel and Gretel in an authentic garden. Peacocks wander about as you approach . Peak summer months. Magic. 
http://www.operahollandpark.com/
PS for more Open air theatre I love Regents Park and they do a musical each summer
https://openairtheatre.com/whats-on Although checking that I wont be going this year!

The Kings Head pub Islington. For a couple of years this billed itself as London's Littlest Opera House. I have never just regarded Opera as being just about big productions and huge theatres and international stars. Reduced version have always been performed and here I've seen a Pagliachi with a cast of 6 and an orchestra consisting of a piano and 2 wind instruments! Best was a Madam Butterfly where she was a ladyboy 'courtesan' in Bangkok, and my memory has completely forgotten how they explained the baby! My browser wont allow me past the first page but I fear they will do less Opera this year.
http://www.kingsheadtheatrepub.co.uk/

If you would like to try a reduced Opera then there's also a festival each August in nearby Valhalla, er sorry that's Hackney to you. This features a mix of favourites adapted and specially written works.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/about/grimeborn

Other places
Saddler's Wells Old and New. Though mainly dance/ballet today I fondly remember Kent Opera's Don Giovanni

Wembley Empire Hall. Huge Barn where they do big Arena Aida's etc. (PS Has Raymond Gubbay retired?)

Marble Hill Park. London weather is not like so many imagine. A rather imaginative open air production of the magic flute by the Thames. Wonderful.

Phillips Auction House - my tickets and the fine wining and dining all paid for by Sir Elton John! THE STORY OF THATS FOR ANOTHER TIME.
Goldsmiths Hall. There are a surprising no of private charity performance in fine locations. So that's twice I've been lucky!
The Festival Hall. If you've never seen a concert performance in a really good acoustic, well I think you are missing a lot. Mark Elder Conducting Donizetti's Elizabetta springs to mind and makes you wonder why its' never given a full production. The Barbican must have half a dozen staged performance a year.
Hyde Park (Pavarotti on his own singing to Diana, moi and a few intimate friends)
The Bloomsbury Theatre. Pavarotti master-class.
Blackheath Concert Halls. Amick Di Verdi used to put on a production each autumn.
The Place. A small space I'd never heard of. A 4 person plus Piano Jenufa, that Scottish Opera had been sending to small halls al around Scotland . They thought it something special, so booked it into London for two nights and in the Times the sadly late critic Rodney Milnes gave it a 5* review. I was straight on the phone.. It didn't matter that sets were minimal and I'd never heard of anyone involved, when Opera works...magic.

Big Screens
Before the Cinema relay s came along there were frequent open air 'big screens' that had a unique, informal fun atmosphere. I think the still have them at Canary Wharf, but for two years they had them in my local park! Also sat on the cobbles at the rear of the ROH and one year dined at the restaurant in the central piazza overlooking the screen.

IN addition there are several Opera Groups that showcase unusual or neglected works 
http://www.chelseaoperagroup.org.uk/
Many of the Country House Operas are within reach e.g. Glyndebourne and Grange Park. There's also one in a large back garden in Ealing that escapes my memory

The other GB companies also often have seasons in London.
Sadly this is sold out.
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/opera-north-ring-cycle-201516

There are top flight music colleges and they put on performances. Standards can be very high and the cost much more reasonable.
Royal Academy of Music
https://www.ram.ac.uk/whats-on/how-to-book
Guildhall School of Music.
http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/

Obviously the internet has devastated music shops. Not so long ago both Covent Garden and the ENO had their own shops but

for new and second hand records its fun to recall what "browsing" was all about at
http://www.hmrecords.co.uk/

and then across the road you find sheet music at.

www.schott-music.co.uk/
And for second hand and obscure music books you should try.
http://www.cecilcourt.co.uk/travis_emery.php
Just a short walk from the ENO.
Also a trip up Charing Cross Road is still worth while. Unless your hotel is nearby, bring a stout bag as multiple purchases are inevitable.

Additions to these lists welcome. 
Please feel free to post or send me Questions and I'll be happy to try answer them. Better still book up and get in touch, first drink is on me.

I wasn't born here but I doubt there's a finer City for an Opera lover to live. Come to London and as Dr Johnson's first draft said " if anyone is tired of Opera... they can't have been to London recently."


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Great work, Belowpar.

You mention the *Bloomsbury Theatre* briefly. This is the theatre of University College London. Every March their opera society (www.ucopera.co.uk) put on a rarely performed opera with professional principles. Great for opera spotters like me. They're always worth seeing. Some I remember: Dialogue of the Carmelites long before it became fashionable (Susan Gritton excellent I recall), a very rare performance of Hulda by Cesar Franck, La Wally, Ruslan and Lyudmila, etc. This year the theatre is being refurbished so they're relocating to Stratford East.

*Fulham Opera* (www.fulhamopera.co.uk), are worth checking out if you like reduced Wagner in a city church which is their base. They did a (2?) piano Ring Cycle a couple of years ago.

I share your appreciation for small-scale opera. Last year I preferred the *Black Cat Opera Company*'s Falstaff (in Camberley) to what I saw the previous month at Covent Garden. I felt they captured the essence of the work perfectly. They've hinted they're looking for a London venue next time.

Yes, I agree that London is a great place for opera, of all types and standards.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Excellent news re University College London. This year its La Favorite by Gaetano Donizetti 14, 16, 18, 19 March 2016. Thank you.
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is another beautiful Frank Matcham design, like the Hackney Empire and The Collosseum. It's where Joan Litlewood revolutionised Theatre in the 1960's, discovering Lionel Bart and producing Oh What a Lovely War. It's just accross the road from Stratford Central Line tube station and there's parking next door (though it's easy to miss the access road).

I will go on one of the first two nights and report back.
NB tickets not yeat on sale. http://www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/

Does anyone else recall the shop Caruso & Co? Forget Hi Fidelity, this was the record shop of my dreams and it really existed. It was all about the (pre rock and roll) voice. The 'Old Couple' who owned it were equally happy talking about Chanson as they were about Opera. It had two locations, one in a pedestrian alleyway somewhere near Covent Garden (shocked I can't remember exactly where) and the other more prominent one on High Holborn. Sadly missed.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Excellent job belowpar.

*Blackheath Halls Opera* Blackheath Halls is a 600-seat concert hall on Lee Road in Blackheath, London, United Kingdom. It stages opera for the community and ROH Young Artists often perform there.

*Royal College of Music* offer tickets to masterclasses at very reasonable prices. Sometimes free but you have to order a ticket.

Simon Keenlyside masterclass.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Another thread has reminded me. There used to be a Covent Garden week where the took Opera out of the Opera House with special events.
Highlight for me was G&S's Trial By Jury set in a real court at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Oh how could I forget my performance as a part of Lambeth Opera showcasing a short new work in the Piazza COVENT GARDEN! Believe me I've tried, but after taking part in the rehearsal I banned my wife from attending the one and only performance!


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Sadly it's hard to argue with any of this but he avoids asking why it's not a political decision. The Arts Council sem to lack the will/strength to make big decisions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/how-i-would-save-eno-from-ruin/

Also he is prescribing a smaller, cheaper organisation without giving it any new sense of purpose.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I have lived in London since I was a student back in 1975. I actually live very centrally, so the ROH and ENO are easily accessible to me, but, over the years, I realise my attendance has got less and less.

This is partly explained by the expense, but also by the fact that, having forked out all that money, you are never sure whether it will be worth it or not. My most recent experiences at the ENO have all been dreadfully disappointing. I walked out of the recent *La Boheme* half way through. I did manage to sit through the Zandra Rhodes *Aida*, though, musically, it was dull as ditchwater, and a *Cav* and *Pag* that were almost as boring. The production of *Cav* had about as much Sicilian fire as a winter's day in an Aberdeen slum, and the updated production of *Pag* was just tricksy. The best productions I have seen there in the last ten years or so have been of English operas (Britten, and a really rather good production of Vaughan Williams's *Sir John in Love*.

It was not always thus. During my student days, and for the next decade or so, I can remember thrilling productions of, amongst others, *Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk*, *War and Peace*, Rimsky-Korsakov's *Christmas Eve*, Joachim Herz's *Salome* with Josephine Barstow, *|Romeo et Juliette* with Valerie Masterson, *Mary Stuart* and *Julius Caesar* with Janet Baker, *Gloriana*, *The Turn of the Screw* and *Peter Grimes*, a superb *La Traviata*, again with Josephine Barstow, and so on. What happened to that ENO?

The Royal Opera was more of a treat, but here too I remember some fantastic productions. Now I'm reluctant to fork out the money for a non-restricted view (is it so wrong of me to want to see the whole stage?) in case the performance turns out to be a dud. A friend of mine, whose opinion I usually respect, took her husband to see *Madama Butterfly* a couple of years ago. He had never been to an opera, and she thought it would be a good intro. She forked out about £200 for good seats, but, felt she had been completely let down. The performance never took fire, and the only singer to make any impression on her was the tenor playing Pinkerton.

On the other hand, the last production I got to see at the Royal Opera House was *Rigoletto* with Simon Keenylside. It was a matinee and I had got, on offer, a stalls ticket for about £20. I have no idea why the house wan't quite full, and why tickets were being offered so cheaply on line, but it turned out to be a thrilling performance, re-establishing my faith in opera. Some had objected to the (brief) nudity and depravity depicted at the Duke's court, but it didn't bother me unduly and I actually liked the production a lot. Keenlyside gave a superb performance, reducing me to tears in _Cortigiani_ and Aleksandra Kurzak was equally fine as his daughter. If I'd paid £100 for this, it would have been money well-spent.

But here is my problem. I have limited funds, and am always afraid I'll end up having my friend's *Butterfly* experience, rather than my *Rigoletto* one.

I find myself preferring concerts, which tend to be cheaper, but usually much more satisfying. The major London orchestras certainly rarely disappoint.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

If we did a straw poll of London opera-goers I believe we'd find that most went to ENO as their introduction to opera rather than ROH. I went to Barber of Seville first (1988) and it was certainly good enough for me to want to go again. It became a weekly habit shortly after.

It seems to me that the ENO pays a high price for putting on duds as they are more likely to be putting off a new audience than ROH, who don't have the same first-time opera-goer scenario.

It's not that there shouldn't be challenging evenings, but when they put on any of the 'top 10 operas' they absolutely have to get it right in terms of production and singers, or just not bother at all. If we are talking about ENO's 'reasons to be' this is surely one of them; and it is being badly handled, as seen in the above-mentioned La Boheme production.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Rupert Christiansen's points:

- Having the largest theatre in London is nonsensical. _I'd definitely sell it for something more suitable. Screw the 'bought by the nation for ENO' legalities._
- The English language dogma is nonsensical in the surtitle age, particular when they'll commission something sung entirely in ancient Greek, etc._ It makes me so mad!!!_
- Building a core of prime singers (British or otherwise) makes sense. _In their day Lesley Garrett, Josephine Barstow, Valerie Masterson et al, developed a loyal following and that helped sell tickets._
- Have a first rate production in house that can be used for many years such as Madame Butterfly. _Surely they must know this by now!_

In other words, the things every opera fan in London has being saying for years.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Don't know the answers, but with the best will in the world having a management consultant run it ,whilst probably inevitable at this stage, does not fill me with confidence that the great days are coming back or indeed that Opera and Dance are driving the vision.

Don F. Part of the problem is that no one knows what will prove to be a success or even what "First Rate Production" is. Have they had bigger hits than the Mafia Rigoletto or the 'English' Mikado? Both were quirkily rather than full on Regie and both had interesting singers at least in their early years. Millar did other work for ENO that didn't survive countless revivals. Hard to predict what might top them?

I have today bought tickets for Norma 17/2 and Tristan 29/6 proving that there's no such thing as bad publicity.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Belowpar said:


> Don F. Part of the problem is that no one knows what will prove to be a success or even what "First Rate Production" is.


I can just imagine the ENO management team agreeing that the problem with existing La Boheme productions is that they're not shooting up heroin. Did no-one have to courage to say "Hold on, this is a bad idea!"

Rigoletto, The Mikado and the very serviceable Barber (all by Miller!) are the kind of thing ENO needs more of. Innovative and interesting, but in no way Regie. Most importantly, they are productions punters are happy to see more than once, and recommend to others. ENO also had (or still have) lovely productions for Xerxes, Ariodante, Falstaff and many others.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The ENO seems to have bought into the idea that explicit sex and drugs must be everywhere. Subtlety and innuendo are out as everything must be rammed down your throat. I also had some of my first experiences of opera with the ENO, both on tour and at the home base. I must confess a drug fuelled Boheme - something which has nothing to do with Puccini's concept - would not make me want to return.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> I have today bought tickets for Norma 17/2 and Tristan 29/6 proving that there's no such thing as bad publicity.


I love *Norma* too much. I don't dare.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

MattExcell said:


> View attachment 80144
> 
> Southgate Opera
> 
> ...


I have stolen the above from another thread! More evidence of diversity.

Sorely tempted. Offenbach is severely underated and this is one of his best loved works. Michael Frayn created Noises Off which is the funniest thing I've ever seen in a theatre. Most promising.

We fly off on holiday that Friday night so it will be a busy week but the Wednesday is now in the diary and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for bringng it to my attention.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> I love *Norma* too much. I don't dare.


Says it all really. Very sad that the audience they helped nurture, is now lost to them.


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## MattExcell (Jun 15, 2011)

Belowpar said:


> I have stolen the above from another thread! More evidence of diversity.
> 
> Sorely tempted. Offenbach is severely underated and this is one of his best loved works. Michael Frayn created Noises Off which is the funniest thing I've ever seen in a theatre. Most promising.
> 
> We fly off on holiday that Friday night so it will be a busy week but the Wednesday is now in the diary and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for bringng it to my attention.


Hope you can make it - would be great to have you along! If not for Vivette, then remember we have Carmen coming up in June as well - with a fantastic cast. Details coming soon...


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I live in London and I am a member at Covent Garden. I very rarely go to the ENO and usually only for Wagner and maybe some Janacek operas as ROH never really stage them. The ENO Meistersinger was a success in English due to the translation and this often the key with operas in English. I saw Otello at the ENO and it just sounded wrong. As somebody pointed out in a letter to this month's Opera magazine, the Arts Council know that if the ENO folded they would get the Colosseum to use for their own gain, so there maybe other motives that are also behind this. I have booked for the ENO Tristan which appears to be doing well but when Jenufa comes on I'll know I can buy a heavily discounted ticket at the theatre booth on the day. The pricing at the ENO, particularly for the mid-low range seats needs to be revised.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Belowpar, it appears that Tannhauser is likely to sell out soon, so our April 19th idea is vulnerable. I'm also looking at Boris for Monday 14th May (opening night), which is also tight.

Incidently, ROH are offering a package of Boris/Tannhauser/Oedipe at 10% off, and it's available before public booking opens. I can't make any of the Oedipe dates but it might still be worth doing. 
http://www.roh.org.uk/packages/1696
http://www.roh.org.uk/packages/1697

Frankly the Tannhauser tickets are just too expensive for me when I don't have a good reason to see it. I'd rather catch it somewhere in Germany at a fraction of the price. I'm slightly more interested in the Boris, even though I have another Mussorgsky (Khovanshchina) in Amsterdam two days later!


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

jflatter said:


> The ENO Meistersinger was a success in English due to the translation


It was a fine production, too - particularly Acts II and III. I assume you mean the recent Richard Jones staging, originally produced by Welsh National Opera before transferring to the Coliseum?


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

DavidA said:


> The ENO seems to have bought into the idea that explicit sex and drugs must be everywhere. Subtlety and innuendo are out as everything must be rammed down your throat. I also had some of my first experiences of opera with the ENO, both on tour and at the home base. I must confess a drug fuelled Boheme - something which has nothing to do with Puccini's concept - would not make me want to return.


It is an opera about a poet living in Paris circa 1830 such people were probably on drugs all the time.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Interesting article from the Telegraph on how to save the ENO:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/how-i-would-save-eno-from-ruin/


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

(More) Operetta in London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/is-operetta-staging-a-comeback/

http://www.operadanube.co.uk/


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

The ENO is performing _Akhnaten_ in March, which I'm tempted to go to.

https://www.eno.org/whats-on/15-16/akhnaten

Is anyone around here interested?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Skilmarilion said:


> The ENO is performing _Akhnaten_ in March, which I'm tempted to go to.
> https://www.eno.org/whats-on/15-16/akhnaten
> Is anyone around here interested?


Sadly, I don't think I can make it, but it should be worth your while.
I'll be going to La Favorite (Donizetti) at Stratford East Theatre (ucopera.co.uk) on 14th March.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Skilmarilion said:


> The ENO is performing _Akhnaten_ in March, which I'm tempted to go to.
> 
> https://www.eno.org/whats-on/15-16/akhnaten
> 
> Is anyone around here interested?


I am!

<Shoots hand up>

N.
But there are more than 15...???!!!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

ENO:


> Akhnaten
> Running time: 2hrs 50mins including two intervals.
> Language: Sung in Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian with no surtitles.


Everything you need to know about the absurdity that is ENO in a nutshell!


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I wonder what they'd do if Glass were not alive and/or the piece were out of copyright.

But I know when I saw _Satyagraha_ at the Met (the production premiered at ENO) sung in Sanskrit I was a little taken aback that there were no titles, but I am glad I was not worrying about what the words were. I'd really love to see more Philip Glass operas live.

I was really happy that _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_ I saw last year used the original language for the sections in Spanish and Latin. I don't recall if those parts were surtitled in English or not, but I'm guess they were. Most of the opera/oratorio is in English, and had surtitles. But, again, Adams and Sellars are alive, and Sellars was directing.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Sadly, I don't think I can make it, but it should be worth your while.
> I'll be going to La Favorite (Donizetti) at Stratford East Theatre (ucopera.co.uk) on 14th March.


Again hope to see you there. Tickets on sale soon, just received this.

Dear Tony,

I'm just emailing as I know I informed you that we would be putting tickets for La Favorite on sale last week. Unfortunately there has been a delay in the process but we hope that tickets will be up on sale both online and via phone in the next few days so please do keep an eye out.

Apologies for the delay but I wanted to let you know as you had expressed as interest.

Many thanks,

Lizzie

UCOpera Press & Outreach Officer 
Tel: 07896969640


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I wish someone else would take the challenge up.

Opera in Vienna / New York / Paris / etc? I'd love to know more.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> I wish someone else would take the challenge up.
> 
> Opera in Vienna / New York / Paris / etc? I'd love to know more.


Have only been to Vienna once so don't really feel qualified to say very much but I'll start a thread and others can chip in.

Haven't been to opera in either Paris or New York.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Ask and I receive: that ENO _Akhnaten_ is a co-production with LA Opera, and it runs for six performances in November 2016. I am definitely going to plan to travel for that.

Hilariously - ruining my theory above - they're using projected English titles, though still singing in Egyptian, Hebrew, and Akkadian.

Also I would start an Opera in NYC thread if I still lived there, just to try and keep track of it all. An Opera in San Francisco thread might be a little light. Maybe it could be expanded to Opera on the USA West Coast?


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

mountmccabe said:


> Also I would start an Opera in NYC thread if I still lived there, just to try and keep track of it all. An Opera in San Francisco thread might be a little light. Maybe it could be expanded to Opera on the USA West Coast?


Yes please, trips to the Opera in San Francisco and Seattle with side trips to Mendocino and Bandon is on my bucket list.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Kind of stupid of ENO not running their surtitles when LA will be. Oh, I forgot, Londoners are so smart that they don't need surtitles as they're pretty fluent in Egyptian and Hebrew, and most have at least a smattering of Akkadian!

Yes please somebody start an Opera in California so I can mention to belowpar the time I was in Mendocino, as well as trips to SFO of course ;-) I haven't heard of Bandon though. Belowpar, please tell me you know the Kate and Anna McGarrigle song!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> Kind of stupid of ENO not running their surtitles when LA will be. Oh, I forgot, Londoners are so smart that they don't need surtitles as they're pretty fluent in Egyptian and Hebrew, and most have at least a smattering of Akkadian!


Smattering?? _Smattering??_ I'm fluent 












Don Fatale said:


> Yes please somebody start an Opera in California so I can mention to belowpar the time I was in Mendocino, as well as *trips to SFO *of course ;-) I haven't heard of Bandon though. Belowpar, please tell me you know the Kate and Anna McGarrigle song!


Was that your day trip?


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> I forgot, Londoners are so smart that they don't need surtitles as they're pretty fluent in Egyptian and Hebrew, and most have at least a smattering of Akkadian!


Ancient Egyptian, the glyph that keeps on giving


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Smattering?? _Smattering??_ I'm fluent


Thanks for posting that. It takes me back to my primary school days!


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Yes please somebody start an Opera in California so I can mention to belowpar the time I was in Mendocino, as well as trips to SFO of course ;-) I haven't heard of Bandon though. Belowpar, please tell me you know the Kate and Anna McGarrigle song!


I am once again in awe of your travels. The pull of the sea constantly nags at me and I know of no finer expression of the deeply held desire to be beside it. I feel confident that I will get there. The water will be chilling, but welcome.

Never heard of Bandon? Next you'll tell me you don't know why Dornoch is famous.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Kind of stupid of ENO not running their surtitles when LA will be. Oh, I forgot, Londoners are so smart that they don't need surtitles as they're pretty fluent in Egyptian and Hebrew, and most have at least a smattering of Akkadian!


Well speak for yourself, it's not my fault if you don't know at least five ancient languages!

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> Never heard of Bandon? Next you'll tell me you don't know why Dornoch is famous.


Was she the fourth Rhinemaiden?

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

The Conte said:


> Was she the fourth Rhinemaiden?
> N.


Sorry, we seem to be talking about golf, but will putt that to bed shortly, I'm sure.


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Looks like the wheels are falling off at the ENO.

English National Opera singers to vote on strike action

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/08/english-national-opera-choristers-strike-vote


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

More explanation of the ENO situation here.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/14/english-national-opera-cuts-magic-flute

(Title is misleading)

Don't know anything about the author but as presented this seems, from this outside supporter, to be a reasonable suggestion in a a horribly dificult situation.

Long term the issue remains. If you undermine the musical staff now, will you attract the quality you need in future? There still needs to be a visoin of what function the ENO might provide. Question upon questions at the moment.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> More explanation of the ENO situation here.
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/14/english-national-opera-cuts-magic-flute
> 
> ...


Thoughtful blog from Yehuda Shapiro who also addresses the question of opera translated into English. I, for one, hate opera in translation.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> More explanation of the ENO situation here.
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/14/english-national-opera-cuts-magic-flute
> 
> (Title is misleading)


This seemed like a good amount of background, thank you.

The attempt to reframe from 25% pay cut to paying for the 9 months they work instead of 12 seems misleading, though. It's kind of like saying "we're cutting your salary from 80,000 to 20,000 but you only actually work 40 hours a week, not 169 so a 75% cut is reasonable."

Is there something I'm missing here? That is, would the pay cut mean less work over the year, or is it just formalizing what already happens? I guess there is the possibility of overtime during those three months, but is that actually significant?



sospiro said:


> Thoughtful blog from Yehuda Shapiro who also addresses the question of opera translated into English. I, for one, hate opera in translation.


This was interesting, and asked some good questions. But it doesn't seem to acknowledge the possibility that ENO is and has been asking such questions. And the only answer offered is to give the writer complimentary tickets. I am not impressed by a post that essentially comes down to "I'm big on the internet" whining.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

mountmccabe said:


> The attempt to reframe from 25% pay cut to paying for the 9 months they work instead of 12 seems misleading, though. It's kind of like saying "we're cutting your salary from 80,000 to 20,000 but you only actually work 40 hours a week, not 169 so a 75% cut is reasonable."
> 
> Is there something I'm missing here? That is, would the pay cut mean less work over the year, or is it just formalizing what already happens? I guess there is the possibility of overtime during those three months, but is that actually significant?
> 
> .


I agree you can make the case a no of ways. But without a fairy godmother with a deep purse some things will have to change. I suspect the Chorus is loosing 25% of it's salary and probably an informal but accepted long summer holiday.

I really do think that it's a case of accept the changes that we suggest or take redundancy. IN that light this offer may seem more acceptable...

As the article says this has been going on forever. But when it comes to government subsidies no one ever seems to believe this time they mean it. Having said all that, I have as much confidence that this will be sorted as I have that the NHS will recieve all the money they want from the NEXT government.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Thoughtful blog from Yehuda Shapiro who also addresses the question of opera translated into English. I, for one, hate opera in translation.


Excellent blog post.

N.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> I agree you can make the case a no of ways. But without a fairy godmother with a deep purse some things will have to change. I suspect the Chorus is loosing 25% of it's salary and probably an informal but accepted long summer holiday.
> 
> I really do think that it's a case of accept the changes that we suggest or take redundancy. IN that light this offer may seem more acceptable...
> 
> As the article says this has been going on forever. But when it comes to government subsidies no one ever seems to believe this time they mean it. Having said all that, I have as much confidence that this will be sorted as I have that the NHS will recieve all the money they want from the NEXT government.


Yes, to all this. The framing struck me as disingenuous, but that does not mean the cuts are unreasonable or unnecessary.

I certainly don't know enough about the situation to have to have a real opinion, so I appreciate the discussion and information!


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Thoughtful blog from Yehuda Shapiro who also addresses the question of opera translated into English. I, for one, hate opera in translation.


The case against clearly put. The case for would centre around nothing does more to draw in the Opera audience and make it less foreign and elitist than performing in the audiences language. I accept that modern technology changes the experince inside the house, but think any balanced article should at least admit that there is a long tradition of this, and indeed is where the author first got hoooked .

Sospiro you seem so wise and even gentle, that seeing you use the word hate about this, does more than surprise it shocks.
I am genuinely interested in why it provides such a reaction in you?

As an aside I would love to know how many free tickets are given out to these bloggers? Further I thought, at least at the ROH, that the practice of reviewers getting TWO tickets for the ROH was dropped long ago? I can find only one review by the author? I wonder how many free tickets (s)he has enjoyed.
There's an interesting parallel with Golf here. If you get yourself associated with one of the Golf Magazine's rating panel, you will call up clubs and receive complimentary rounds. And be treated as a king for the day. The effect is that luxury destinations get rated more highly that they in most cases deserve. In return the Clubs get excellent publicity in a competitive world. The net effect of this is inflationary where the luxury element influences public taste in a way that it wouldn't if the old white retired guys (fits all the ones I've met) paid for their rounds. Similarly I'd rather have a complimentary night in the stalls with a glass of Champagne for my partner and I at the ROH (cost to others £550?) than the same deal at the Coliseum (cost to others £350). Of course my impartiality would be never be impaired, but you can see how it might adversely affect the opinions of others.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> The case against clearly put. The case for would centre around nothing does more to draw in the Opera audience and make it less foreign and elitist than performing in the audiences language. I accept that modern technology changes the experince inside the house, but think any balanced article should at least admit that there is a long tradition of this, and indeed is where the author first got hoooked .
> 
> Sospiro you seem so wise and even gentle, that seeing you use the word hate about this, does more than surprise it shocks.
> I am genuinely interested in why it provides such a reaction in you?
> ...


One should also remember that often small scale touring opera companies and amateur companies performing in smaller theatres around the country would_ u_sually perform the opera in the vernacular. It is one of the things that would bring people in. Unfortunately the ability to sing English (or any other language for that matter) clearly and naturally seems to me largely a thing of the past, a fact brought home to me recently when listening to Britten's recording of his *The Turn of the Screw* and Dervaux's *Dialogue des Carmelites* (both recorded in the 1950s). In both recordings the words (English on the one hand, French on the other) are so clear you don't need a libretto to understand what they are singing. These days I usually find it pretty hard to hear all the words , whatever the language and whoever the singer.

Admittedly nowadays I tend to prefer to hear the operas I already know sung in their original language, but this does not mean I won't go and see opera in English. In any case, it seems pretty silly to me to perform an opera like *Die Zauberflote* to an English speaking audience in German, who will sit stony-faced through the dialogue, because they haven't a clue what is being said. I first saw the opera in a small scale touring production by Scottish Opera at my then local theatre in Darlington, probably, at around 900 seats, more the size of theatre Mozart would have been used to. I was still a teenager, and I'm sure that the fact that it was performed in English, so that I could actually understand the dialogue, made it much more approachable than others.

Incidentally, I occasionally write reviews for a webzine, but I prefer not to go to theatres who will only allow me one ticket. So much about going to the theatre (whether it be opera, ballet or straight theatre) is about the _shared_ experience, with someone to chat to in the interval. I'm sure also, that discussing my impression with someone else helps crystallise my thoughts eventually shape my review. Theatres are being incredibly mean (and shortsighted) when they offer just one.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> Sospiro you seem so wise and even gentle, that seeing you use the word hate about this, does more than surprise it shocks.
> I am genuinely interested in why it provides such a reaction in you?


Thank you for your kind words but let me try and explain.

_Don Pasquale_ was one of the first operas I learned more or less word for word. As the orchestra played my mind was expecting to hear all these Italian words which I knew so well but instead I heard something else. It was as if the English was the foreign language. It was the same with _Rigoletto_.

Imagine standing on the platform of a railway station and a steam train comes along but all you can hear is a diesel engine. Or you watch a video of Maria Callas singing but the voice is Adele's. I am a bear of very little brain and this bothered me. :lol:



Belowpar said:


> As an aside I would love to know how many free tickets are given out to these bloggers? Further I thought, at least at the ROH, that the practice of reviewers getting TWO tickets for the ROH was dropped long ago? I can find only one review by the author? I wonder how many free tickets (s)he has enjoyed.


Yehuda Shapiro often writes for The Guardian and is, I believe, a respected journalist.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

sospiro said:


> Thank you for your kind words but let me try and explain.
> 
> _Don Pasquale_ was one of the first operas I learned more or less word for word. As the orchestra played my mind was expecting to hear all these Italian words which I knew so well but instead I heard something else. It was as if the English was the foreign language. It was the same with _Rigoletto_.
> 
> Imagine standing on the platform of a railway station and a steam train comes along but all you can hear is a diesel engine. Or you watch a video of Maria Callas singing but the voice is Adele's. I am a bear of very little brain and this bothered me. :lol:


OK, I get it, and I also prefer to hear a work I know well in its original language. But what if the opera were one you havd never heard before, or was actually written to an English libretto? What then? Would you still hate opera in English?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

GregMitchell said:


> OK, I get it, and I also prefer to hear a work I know well in its original language. But what if the opera were one you had never heard before, or was actually written to an English libretto? What then? Would you still hate opera in English?


If it was one I'd never heard before and I was going to see it, I'd do what I call my homework. I'd listen to CDs and watch a DVD if there was one. I'd only vaguely heard of _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_ but I read up about it and listened to it lots of times before I went.

I love English opera, especially Britten. I love _The Lighthouse_ by Peter Maxwell Davies and I'm going to see _Written on Skin_ next month at the Barbican.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

sospiro said:


> If it was one I'd never heard before and I was going to see it, I'd do what I call my homework. I'd listen to CDs and watch a DVD if there was one. I'd only vaguely heard of _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_ but I read up about it and listened to it lots of times before I went.


I've always done that too, but I do think opera in the vernacular still has its place. It still seems slightly ludicrous to me that an English speaking audience will sit through dialogue, which is supposed to be funny, spoken by English singers speaking in German, to take one example. *Die Zauberflote* is surely at least one opera that is better sung in the language of the audience who are watching it. Ingmar Bergman must have thought so, for his charming film of the opera is sung in his native Swedish.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

In New York I saw a production of Der Freischütz by Utopia Opera (one of the smaller companies) where everything sung was in the original German, but the dialogue was in English. It seemed like an interesting compromise.

Though personally I tend to see dialogue as a negative for opera.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I reckon Glyndebourne is just about near enough to London to be included.

Recent piece by Rupert Christiansen.

I've never been but hope to remedy that in time. They provide a shuttle bus timed to coincide with the London trains so that would be a great help to me.

Sebastian Schwarz (currently deputy artistic director of Theatre an der Wien in Vienna) is the new general director and takes over in May. "_ ... He is a sought-after voice specialist and a regular jury member for major international voice competitions._" 
He also keeps bees so what's not to like?


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

This is from the Opera Now website. Hard to believe but I can't think of another?

ENO stages first ever Bellini opera

12 January 2016

Norma, Opera North (2012)
Norma, Opera North (2012)
Alastair Muir

English National Opera is to stage its first ever production of a Bellini opera.




Norma will be the first work by the composer to be presented in the company's 85-year history.




ENO will stage Christopher Alden's production, first seen at Opera North in 2012. The 'energising and absorbing' (Daily Telegraph) production has also been performed in Chemnitz and Bordeaux.




The production relocates the opera from Gaul under Roman occupation to an imagined American mid-West of the late 19th century.




Stephen Lord will conduct a cast including Marjorie Owens, Jennifer Holloway, Peter Auty and James Cresswell.




Norma opens on 17 February at 7.40pm for seven performances.


ENO: Norma


See all latest news


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> This is from the Opera Now website. Hard to believe but I can't think of another?
> 
> ENO stages first ever Bellini opera
> 
> ...


That is incredible. I can understand why it has never attempted *Norma* before, as it's so difficult to find a singer capable of doing the title role justice (although all sorts of unsuitable people seem to be doing it these days), but not to to have done any of the others is doing a great composer a massive disservice.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Norma as a cowgirl ... ooooooooooooooooook!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Yes, a cowgirl, singing...
_Chaaaaay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ayst Goh-oh-oh-dess! _

Who wouldn't want to see and hear that!


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> That is incredible. I can understand why it has never attempted *Norma* before, as it's so difficult to find a singer capable of doing the title role justice (although all sorts of unsuitable people seem to be doing it these days), but not to to have done any of the others is doing a great composer a massive disservice.


I seem to remember them doing I capuleti e i Montecchi...

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

The Conte said:


> I seem to remember them doing I capuleti e i Montecchi...
> 
> N.


They did it in concert:
https://www.questia.com/article/1P3-475856221/i-capuleti-e-i-montecchi

So it is the first time they have _staged_ a Bellini opera.

N.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

A couple of reviews of Norma, neither of them very good. Rupert Christiansen obviously not impressed by Marjorie Owens (aka Mrs Quinn Kelsey)

Rupert Christiansen

Opera Britannia

Mind you who on earth advised her to say this? "I'm a soprano. If you don't clap for me, a fairy dies"?????


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Mind you who on earth advised her to say this? "I'm a soprano. If you don't clap for me, a fairy dies"?????


I think it was funny.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Sloe said:


> I think it was funny.


Presumably, so did she ...


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

At least at ROH we have Luisotti, who I think is currently the best conductor of Italian rep around doing Il Tritticofrom 25 Feb. Personally I think Suor Angelica is Puccini's most underrated opera. I'll also hear Luisotti conduct my first live Traviata in about 8 years as well. My last live Traviata had this tenor who I thought would not amount to much. What was his name? Jonas something??


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

jflatter said:


> At least at ROH we have Luisotti, who I think is currently the best conductor of Italian rep around doing Il Tritticofrom 25 Feb. Personally I think Suor Angelica is Puccini's most underrated opera. I'll also hear Luisotti conduct my first live Traviata in about 8 years as well. My last live Traviata had this tenor who I thought would not amount to much. What was his name? Jonas something??


:lol:

Who sang Violetta ? Anna something ?


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

sospiro said:


> A couple of reviews of Norma, neither of them very good. Rupert Christiansen obviously not impressed by Marjorie Owens (aka Mrs Quinn Kelsey)
> 
> Rupert Christiansen
> 
> ...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> sospiro said:
> 
> 
> > A couple of reviews of Norma, neither of them very good. Rupert Christiansen obviously not impressed by Marjorie Owens (aka Mrs Quinn Kelsey)
> ...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

There's a member of the Board of ENO called Max Hole.

This is a guy who doesn't understand why conductors have their backs to the audience ...

He knows nothing about opera or classical music at all and people wonder why ENO is in trouble.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

It's not the traditionalist view, but I think he's mentioning points others have made before, and some views I support. It's not that it's wrong as it is but classical concerts aren't taking advantage of what the modern era offers.

1. Large screens to show conductor and soloist. Sure, why not! e.g. at a Mahler symphony the cor anglais during the solo passage is unseen by those in the stalls and hard to spot by the less knowledgeable.
2. Lighting. Oh god yes, sort out the damn lighting to create a suitable mood. Doesn't mean it has to be a rock-show.
3. Not mentioned in article, but I will. Fusty old bow ties and tales. A style popular in the 1920's? Arguably compounded by the fact that lady musicians are supposed to wear something black and a little glamorous, and presumably can't or prefer not to wear the same thing ever night. It's time for a major orchestra to have a sartorial revolution!
4. I'm also okay with an introductory spiel from the podium. It can be a great mood setter and I think it can connect audience and players.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> It's not the traditionalist view, but I think he's mentioning points others have made before, and some views I support. It's not that it's wrong as it is but classical concerts aren't taking advantage of what the modern era offers.
> 
> 1. Large screens to show conductor and soloist. Sure, why not! e.g. at a Mahler symphony the cor anglais during the solo passage is unseen by those in the stalls and hard to spot by the less knowledgeable.
> 2. Lighting. Oh god yes, sort out the damn lighting to create a suitable mood. Doesn't mean it has to be a rock-show.
> ...


You make some good points there which I agree with but it was the thought of the violinist or bassoonist sitting in my lap which made me titter.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

sospiro said:


> You make some good points there which I agree with but it was the thought of the violinist or bassoonist sitting in my lap which made me titter.


You have a fertile imagination... which it a good thing of course! If you get a seat behind the orchestra you may be close enough to tickle the cymbal player behind the ear.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> You have a fertile imagination... which it a good thing of course! If you get a seat behind the orchestra you may be close enough to *tickle the cymbal player behind the ear*.


Now there's a thought!!


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Now there's a thought!!


The crash from the cymbals will do more than tickle your ears...

N.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

sospiro said:


> There's a member of the board of ENO called Max Hole.


Tells you all you need to know


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Not quite London, but I'm surfing the internet while holding my place in the e-queue to buy Glyndebourne tickets. Started at 1000 and something - now at 270.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jegreenwood said:


> Not quite London, but I'm surfing the internet while holding my place in the e-queue to buy Glyndebourne tickets. Started at 1000 and something - now at 270.


Good luck with your tickets!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Good luck with your tickets!


Success. Going to "Figaro" in July. I gather I'll actually need my tux.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

jegreenwood said:


> Success. Going to "Figaro" in July. I gather I'll actually need my tux.


Congratulations. A tux isn't required, although most seem to conform to this anachronistic style. If you have time there are plenty of other opera festivals in England. Many have the same dress code!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Here we go again. Covent Garden is sending letters to ticket holders for the upcoming Lucia di Lammermoor (Damrau, Castronovo) warning of sexual acts and violence in the new production. Another production designed to attract a new and younger audience... who apparently enjoy watching rape and violence? Now that is offensive!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ce-latest-production-row-gang-rape-stage.html


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> Here we go again. Covent Garden is sending letters to ticket holders for the upcoming Lucia di Lammermoor (Damrau, Castronovo) warning of sexual acts and violence in the new production. Another production designed to attract a new and younger audience... who apparently enjoy watching rape and violence? Now that is offensive!
> 
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ce-latest-production-row-gang-rape-stage.html


Kasper Holten is nervous after the Guillaume Tell PR disaster. He's sent this warning (he says) in case people had planned to bring children. A bit late now as presumably you would have made your plans and bought your tickets already. After reading _"If there are any members of your party who you feel may be upset by such scenes then please email us and we will, of course, discuss suitable arrangements._", one wag Tweeted _"will they provide a blindfold?"_

The comments (including one from Kasper Holten) on here are interesting.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I have Tickets but no email.

More proof you can't trust the Daily Wail.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Glyndebourne does belong in any discussion of Opera in London. They lay on transport from the local station and time it so you can always get back. You would need to be on a train from Victoria abuot 2 hours before curtain up.

The experience is discussed on this thread.

http://www.talkclassical.com/36706-tell-me-about-glyndebourne.html

Another summer festival to consider.

http://www.operahollandpark.com/our-2016-season/

Prices are rising but I've always enjoyed my visits .


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> I have Tickets but no email.
> 
> More proof you can't trust the Daily Wail.


Haha.

The Telegraph's view.

Apparently Katie Mitchell seems to think that Alisa has a much bigger role than Donizetti wrote for her. Lucia isn't strong enough to kill Arturo herself so Katie has her enlisting Alisa's help and the two of them batter Arturo to death. The dramatic moment when a bloodstained Lucia appears amongst all the frivolity, would be lost. That moment is designed to shock the wedding party and the audience and if you'd already seen Lucia and Alisa try to stab and then batter Arturo to death, the moment would lose its dramatic impact. Katie Mitchell explains...


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Sheesh! It's this director. Be very afraid.

_Cleansed, National Theatre: 'If the audience faints, our play is doing its job,' says fight director of controversial play._

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...-its-job-says-fight-director-of-a3187921.html

Kaspar Holten sure does have a thing for brutality and rape. If it's not his productions, it's directors he (I'm guessing) appoints. This seems fetishistic on Holten's part.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> Sheesh! It's this director. Be very afraid.
> 
> _Cleansed, National Theatre: 'If the audience faints, our play is doing its job,' says fight director of controversial play._
> 
> ...


Blimey.

I really wanted Kasper Holten to succeed but I've been terribly disappointed with his productions and as you say, although this Lucia isn't his, he'll have the final say.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Don Fatale said:


> Sheesh! It's this director. Be very afraid.
> 
> _Cleansed, National Theatre: 'If the audience faints, our play is doing its job,' says fight director of controversial play._
> 
> http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...-its-job-says-fight-director-of-a3187921.html


To be clear, that was said by Rachel Bown-Williams, not Katie Mitchell.

For those that haven't clicked through, this is what it actually says in the article (which contradicts the headline, I'd say)



> Today, fight director Rachel Bown-Williams said: "One of the things that Katie wanted the play to do was to get in the faces of the audience and make them feel uncomfortable.
> 
> "I wouldn't say it was our objective to make people faint, but I suppose it does show we were effective."


This is not something imposed upon the play; the text of the play is graphic, the original production of the play was also graphic (Telegraph review from 1998).

I can see taking issue with the play itself - I have not seen it and am not particularly intrigued - but those comments on the direction do not suggest to me that Katie Mitchell and crew are changing the nature of the play, taking liberties.

The opera productions I have seen from Katie Mitchell - _Alcina_ and _Written on Skin_ - have not been, I'd say, graphic. The former was a little racy and by no means a traditional presentation, but it felt very clearly built on the opera. The latter easily could have been racy or graphic given the subject matter but was neither.

I haven't had a chance to watch what Katie Mitchell has to say about _Lucia_, but I'm interested.



Don Fatale said:


> Kaspar Holten sure does have a thing for brutality and rape. If it's not his productions, it's directors he (I'm guessing) appoints. This seems fetishistic on Holten's part.


I would say that brutality and rape are operatic obsessions.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Neither Katie Mitchell nor Kasper Holten have mentioned that this production of Lucia will contain scenes depicting rape, nor did the Guillaume Tell production show a rape. I can't think of any of Kasper's productions at the ROH that contained a rape scene. If anybody has a fetish for rape it is certainly not Kasper.

Has anybody here seen Mitchell's production of _cleansed_? There is certainly not one person here who has seen Mitchell's production of Lucia as it hasn't opened yet. Since some people seem so keen to criticise productions that they haven't seen I have started an "Our own reviews of operas we HAVEN'T attended thread".

Meanwhile for those seeking an antidote to the ROH Lucia moral panic here's a common sense response to the phenomenon:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/20...i-lammermoor-content-warning?CMP=share_btn_tw

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

It's a fallacious argument to suggest that only those who've seen a production are entitled to comment on something that has received many reviews and news items. Everything I've read indicates that the play depicts violence. I'm not obliged to fly to London to sit through it, in order to verify it. Whilst Katie Mitchell didn't write the play, I believe it's reasonable to assume she supports its content. 

As for Lucia. These aren't malicious rumours, the letters from ROH to ticket holders have gone out, warning of sexual acts and violence.

But let's see what transpires from the actual production now that we've been forewarned.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> It's a fallacious argument to suggest that only those who've seen a production are entitled to comment on something that has received many reviews and news items. Everything I've read indicates that the play depicts violence. I'm not obliged to fly to London to sit through it, in order to verify it. Whilst Katie Mitchell didn't write the play, I believe it's reasonable to assume she supports its content.
> 
> As for Lucia. These aren't malicious rumours, the letters from ROH to ticket holders have gone out, warning of sexual acts and violence.
> 
> But let's see what transpires from the actual production now that we've been forewarned.


My post was about jumping to conclusions that Lucia would feature a _rape_ scene and your accusation that Kasper Holten "has a thing for brutality and rape", when in fact I can't think of a single one of his productions that has had a rape scene in it. I notice you have ignored that point. Hopefully you realise the seriousness of implying that somebody has a rape fetish. Lucia may indeed include a rape scene (it would make sense if you are going to show what happens on Lucia's wedding night), but we don't know that it will.

Having seen _cleansed_ I can speak from authority and it did indeed include a rape scene and many other scenes of sex or violence. Before going I read a review of the play that gave it one star and went down the whole Mary "Disgusted" Whitehouse route, but I wanted to make up my own mind and see the play for myself. I am very glad I did, it was a complex and thoughtful piece about the nature of true love and I felt there was similarity with Jesus' parables in the Bible with the way the issue was handled. What is true love?

In the programme was the following quote from Kane:

"there isn't anything you can't represent on stage. If you are saying you can't represent something, you are saying you can't talk about it, you are denying its existence and that's an extraordinarily ignorant thing to do."

I can't imagine any way of putting it better.

However, I also realise that some people may not be comfortable sitting through depictions of sex or violence and therefore it only seems right that audiences are warned in advance as soon as the production reaches a stage where the Director has worked out the detail of the elements of their staging.

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

"there isn't anything you can't represent on stage. If you are saying you can't represent something, you are saying you can't talk about it, you are denying its existence and that's an extraordinarily ignorant thing to do."

That is a completely fallacious argument. It's called a straw man argument.

I'm heading out to a concert now, but hopefully can pick up our discussion later tonight.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

My personal opinion is that it's better for example not to see Lucia kill her husband. It's more interesting to imagine what might have happened. And the composer surely would have added it to the opera if he wanted it. Lucia probably snapped and couldn't take it anymore. It's far more fun to leave something to the imagination. And besides the husband of Lucia would surely in good opera tradition take a long time to die and sing couple of arias doing it. Well if they where good arias then perhaps...


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Diminuendo said:


> My personal opinion is that it's better for example not to see Lucia kill her husband. It's more interesting to imagine what might have happened. And the composer surely would have added it to the opera if he wanted it. Lucia probably snapped and couldn't take it anymore. It's far more fun to leave something to the imagination. And besides the husband of Lucia would surely in good opera tradition take a long time to die and sing couple of arias doing it. Well if they where good arias then perhaps...


Yes, this is totally sensible and it's all down to personal preference. I'm not saying that I prefer to see more action than in the stage directions, I am just open to seeing new interpretations of the score. Whether that be the music or the libretto. I have heard the recording with Damrau already and she interprets the music completely differently from Callas. Now, I absolutely adore Callas' Lucia (both studio recordings and Berlin live, of course), but I am open to hearing it played differently and will enjoy it as long as it makes sense musically (great works of art are great partly because they can be interpreted in a number of equally valid ways). The same goes for the libretto, I have seen Lucia twice and both productions were similar in that they interpreted the libretto pretty 'straight' and I am happy to see something different. I hasten to add that I may dislike the Lucia production when I see it, but I am totally neutral at present and will remain so until I see the production.

N.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cel...at-ENO-as-music-director-quits-over-cuts.html

This is the saddest news yet. Who will want the job now?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cel...at-ENO-as-music-director-quits-over-cuts.html
> 
> This is the saddest news yet. Who will want the job now?


Cressida Pollock's manifesto, published on Monday. It's all rather 'corporate-speak'.

Mark Wigglesworth resignation letter.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

More on (ENO Music Director) Mark Wigglesworth's resignation.

Rupert Christiansen.

Mark Wigglesworth's response


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

It would seem that a lot of Christiansen's piece is conjecture. 

None of us are party to what went on behind closed doors of course, but I do think that Pollock's appointment is an example of many of the problems that exist in all branches of the arts these days, where creatives are sidelined in favour of marketing men and finance directors.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Last night was opening night of Katie Mitchell's _Lucia di Lammermoor_ at ROH. So far the reviews aren't good. Sounds gruesome and distracting and I'm glad I decided not to go.

The Arts Desk

The Stage

Rupert Christiansen

Planet Hugill


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Last night was opening night of Katie Mitchell's _Lucia di Lammermoor_ at ROH. So far the reviews aren't good. Sounds gruesome and distracting and I'm glad I decided not to go.
> 
> The Arts Desk
> 
> ...


For me the pictures speak for themself


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Blimey.
> 
> I really wanted Kasper Holten to succeed but I've been terribly disappointed with his productions and as you say, although this Lucia isn't his, he'll have the final say.


We all want him to succeed. The problem with directors like Holten and his ilk is that they appear blind to the fact that they are supposed to be serving the composer and the audience. I suppose it's a case of massive egos that makes them think they know better than the genius who composed the thing in the first place.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Last night was opening night of Katie Mitchell's _Lucia di Lammermoor_ at ROH. So far the reviews aren't good. Sounds gruesome and distracting and I'm glad I decided not to go.
> 
> The Arts Desk
> 
> ...


Why I will not pay to watch opera these days apart from at the cinema broadcasts. it costs a fortune and if I was presented with this sort of trash that insults both intelligence and good taste, I would be constantly having rows with the management about refunding my money! The idiots who produce these things should remember they are dependent on government subsidies and at a time of cuts the money could be better spent elsewhere.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

It would not surprise me if one firm or another have recorded this thrash for commercial purchase


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> For me the pictures speak for themself


Yep!

The very first DVD of Lucia which I watched was this one ...










... and I think it will always remain my favourite.

The sextet from that DVD


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Yep!
> 
> The very first DVD of Lucia which I watched was this one ...
> 
> ...


Now that I would never ( ahem) have guest

Mine is Sutherland at the Met and recently (few season ago) Dessay and Calleja also at the Met.
The later not commercial available .


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Once again it's necessary to ask for such insightful reviews to be added to the correct thread. 

http://www.talkclassical.com/42788-our-own-reviews-operas.html


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> Now that I would never ( ahem) have guest
> 
> Mine is Sutherland at the Met and recently (few season ago) Dessay and Calleja also at the Met.
> The later not commercial available .




I have a bootleg of that Calleja


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> I have a bootleg of that Calleja


I recorded it from the Mezzo channel


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> Once again it's necessary to ask for such insightful reviews to be added to the correct thread.
> 
> http://www.talkclassical.com/42788-our-own-reviews-operas.html


Yes but they're not my reviews - I'm simply posting other people's opinions and their diversity fascinates me.

Ordinary punters have added their opinions on the ROH page and most of them are positive.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Yes but they're not my reviews - I'm simply posting other people's opinions and their diversity fascinates me.
> 
> Ordinary punters have added their opinions on the ROH page and most of them are positive.


Of course you are correct, I was thinking we now have our own unlikely pair competing to be the next Waldorf and Statler. 

Statler: Wake up you old fool. You slept through the show.

Waldorf: Who's a fool? You watched it.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Yes but they're not my reviews - I'm simply posting other people's opinions and their diversity fascinates me.
> 
> Ordinary punters have added their opinions on the ROH page and most of them are positive.


Yes most punters on the ROH site and twitter don't seem to aim venonously at the production as certain critics. However Oren as usual has been heavily criticised for dreadful conducting. I will be seeing it but not until the 2nd cast as I think Kurzak is the more natural Bel Canto singer.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Also I am going to sound a little cynical here but when the controversial Rusalka was put on at ROH ticket sales were initially poor. Members who bought cheap seats were even upgraded to expensive seats. As soon as the commotion about the booing of that production appeared in the press tickets went like hot cakes. I note Lucia is not selling that well and I thought it would have been more popular than Boris Godunov which was a complete sell out and more expensive. I think a lot of this has the ROH PR machine behind it.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Also I am going to sound a little cynical here but when the controversial Rusalka was put on at ROH ticket sales were initially poor. Members who bought cheap seats were even upgraded to expensive seats. As soon as the commotion about the booing of that production appeared in the press tickets went like hot cakes. I note Lucia is not selling that well and I thought it would have been more popular than Boris Godunov which was a complete sell out and more expensive. I think a lot of this has the ROH PR machine behind it.


It will be interesting to see if tickets start selling!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The critics from a Dutch online magazine are excited by the new season.
One thing I did get out off the article that the R.O.H are to be shown in my county as well next season


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> The critics from a Dutch online magazine are excited by the new season.
> One thing I did get out off the article that the R.O.H are to be shown in my county as well next season


Is this the cinema screenings?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Is this the cinema screenings?


Yes, Sospiro and my home town is in it :clap:

http://royaloperahouse.nl/?page_id=48


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...eno-artistic-director-daniel-kramer-interview

Interview with new ENO Artistic Director. Full of good intentions, but no experience. I wish him well.

(How much weight to put on anonymous comments - you lot excepted of course!)


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...eno-artistic-director-daniel-kramer-interview
> 
> Interview with new ENO Artistic Director. Full of good intentions, but no experience. I wish him well.
> 
> (How much weight to put on anonymous comments - you lot excepted of course!)


Cressida Pollock, by her own admission, is 'no opera buff' so I'm sure the two of them will have fun.

My advice for ENO:
1. Stop staging opera in translation
2. If you want to stage operas in English, stage British operas (there are loads)
3. Stage brand new operas
4. The chorus is world class, instead of cutting performances, make better use of this priceless asset.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

As ever London is full of Options. I wanted to highlight some of the smaller events that would otherwise get missed.

Have just seen UCO's Aroldo. Not the best production I've ever seen but an interesting chance to see a rarity with a young cast. The Orchestra was much better than last year but it didn't match up to La Favourite to which I still listen to regularly.

Upcoming

www.wiltons.org.uk/whatson/297-dubai-rostov-new-york-scenes-from-contemporary-opera

David Pountney working with Students of the National Opera Studio should be very interesting.

Whilst the other London colleges tend to use a full Ochestra this one is with a Piano. However if you haven't been yet then Wiltons Music Hall is worth travelling for on its own.

Rare chance to hear Saint-Saens's Samson and Dalila.

www.cadoganhall.com/event/chelsea-opera-group-chorus-and-orchestra-170319/

(also Candide later this summer)

Midsummer Opera offering Gioconda
bachtrack.com/opera-listing/st-johns-waterloo/la-gioconda/07-april-2017/19-00

Need to keep an eye out for the Colleges

I've been to events by both of these and can recommend them. Bright young performers, musically polished and I value highly the chance to see and hear Opera in the size of hall for which it was composed.

Royal College of Music 
Coming up. A couple of performances of a rare Rameau Opera at the beginning of April.
http://www.rcm.ac.uk/events/listings/details/?id=1111456

Not to be confused with the Royal Academy of Music
Hurrah I will at last get to see the Threepenny Opera, in Shoreditch of all places.
We will be there for opening night 15th June. Pleased to meet up with anyone else who's going.

http://shoreditchtownhall.com/theat...t/royal-academy-of-music-the-threepenny-opera

Also in June, ENO are giving the European Premier of a new work at the Beautiful Hackney Empire.

https://hackneyempire.co.uk/whats-o...HV4hfFOAHMZb2MWJhBcLY9fqzX04YYA99rxoCJffw_wcB 
(Will go either the 9th or 11th.)

And finally, London has its own Outdoor festival each summer. Standards can be variable but I've good nights there and the setting is great.
http://www.operahollandpark.com/2017-season/

PS we seem to have lost some of best participants?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Three days two nights in London at the tail end of September.

Sleeper train from the Scottish Highlands to London Euston has me in town for 9am. Hotel kindly offers to check me in for a busy road-traffic room but I hold out for a back room, stow my bags to come back later. I head off on foot from Euston to V&A museum (4 miles) hoping to see the opera exhibition. Alas it isn't open yet, so more on that later. Enjoyed some time in the Natural History Museum. Back to the hotel to check in and snooze the afternoon.

Evening at Aida (ENO). First night of a new production. It's predictably lousy, despite an obvious spend. The triumphal March scene is embarrassing. Best of the night is Latonia Moore as Aida. Such a great voice. Someone has to say it... the shortest diva to inhabit the stage in quite some time? Gwyn Hughes Jones as Radames was reliable, always hits the required notes, but was not quite ardent! Elizabeth DeShong as Amneris was a little disappointing in that she didn't steal her scenes in the way that Amnerises can. Orchestra and Chorus on good form, which on balance made it overall a good night musically speaking. Production needs some serious revisions. i.e. get some f**king dancers in the thing!

Next day afternoon I have Globe Theatre Much Ado About Nothing (I'm a big Shakespeare goer as well as opera). In the evening I go to an opera in the back room of a pub in Islington (King's Head), one which has previously hosted boxing, cock-fighting and bear-baiting, you get the idea! Never mind Fight Club, this is Opera Club! They don't even issue tickets. I'm simply on the guest list!

Tosca has been updated to the last days of WWII in occupied Paris. It's sung in English with a text adapted to fit the scenario. It's played as a chamber opera and works strikingly well. Just four singers (Angelotti/Spoletta doubled, oh what a moustache can do!), and piano, cello and oboe/bassoon in the orchestra. Becca Marriott is impressive in every way as Tosca, full voiced even in this 120 seat venue. What's more impressive is that she wrote the new libretto. She's artistically and intellectually a talent to watch. You read it here first. Bottom line, they made Tosca work as a chamber opera, you're literally in the room! I was at a preview night and I think they'll do well on their run.

Incidentally, the King's Head Theatre seem to have a fractious relationship with their landlord and next year will be in a 250 seat newly-built venue nearby. This will, I believe, be THE chamber opera venue in London.

Next day (Saturday) I have an evening flight out of London so there's time for a visit to V&A's Opera exhibition. I'm in the first batch of the public to see it. There's some nice exhibits, particularly the recreation of an 18th c. opera stage with an ocean/ship/clouds scene. Alas the exhibition represents a cursory glance at a few key operas. Each of which are done justice (Poppea, Rinaldo, Nozze, Nabucco, Tannhauser, Salome, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), but the notable omission of Puccini is a major deficit. Some interesting artifacts and costumes are shown, but not enough to satisfy or inform a true opera fiend. 

And so to my matinee opera, The Magic Flute at the Soho Theatre. This is a multi-stage venue in the heart of Soho. Got to say I found it unaccountably snobby and generally overpriced. Mozart's opera was relocated to a nightclub (however do they think of these things!) Most everything about this production is unsatisfactory, certainly the inclusion of electric guitar in the four-piece orchestra. Tom Stoddart as Papageno had the voice and charm to carry the production, he also had the wittiest dialogue.

So that's it. Big stage opera, good chamber opera, unsatisfactory small stage quasi opera, all sung English. With not a ticket to be had for Covent Garden's Boheme but plenty of other options I guess opera is alive and well in London.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

A few interesting 'smaller' events this autumn

Wilton's Music Hall is London's MOST atmospheric venue and worth heading over for a look over, even if there's nothing on.

They have two interesting productions this autumn

Peter Brooks reduced Carmen, which I saw in the Theatro Argentina Rome at least 30 years ago! I think its now sold out, and

The Rakes Progress.
https://www.wiltons.org.uk/whatson/362-the-rake-s-progress

The Royal Academy of Music have been performing in a fascinating Round Chapel in London's most fashionable and interesting borough. (But then I'm biased) for the past couple of years.
Young fresh voices with a full orchestra ina small venue. Whats not to love.
Don Giovanni, Royal Academy of Music

www.ram.ac.uk/whats-on/event/don-giovanni

Midsummer Opera thankfully don't just live up to their name!
Two rarities.

Vaughan Williams Riders to the Sea

William Walton Henry V (Narrated arrangement by Christopher Palmer)

Midsummer Opera 17th and 19th November St Johns Waterloo.

Also please note the tickets for next autumn's Ring at ROH will be on sale to the public on 8th November. You have to buy the same seat as a package, for all 4 Opera's. Open to the public from 8th November its selling out fast and you will need to budget for an extra £90 (approx) to become a friend now if you realistically want a chance of a ticket.

http://www.roh.org.uk/about/the-ring


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Covent Garden next season:

http://www.roh.org.uk/seasons/2018-19

Autumn

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Verdi's Requiem
Simon Boccanegra
Carmen
Hansel and Gretel

Winter

The Queen of Spades
La traviata
Katya Kabanova
Così fan tutte

Spring

La forza del destino
Faust
Billy Budd
Andrea Chénier
Tosca

Summer

Boris Godunov
Carmen
The Marriage of Figaro
La Fille du régiment


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

sospiro said:


> My advice for ENO:
> 1. Stop staging opera in translation
> 2. If you want to stage operas in English, stage British operas (there are loads)


I strongly disagree.
I find it very rewarding with operas in translation and how I feel a stronger connection to the singing and don´t have to turn my head to look at a text machine.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

RE ROH next year.

Verdi gets a good outing. Domingo as Germont Pere, can't wait. (I know he's not the correct Fact, being a Barritono Ritardo)
Pappano conducting the Requiem.


For lovers of Carmen you might want to check out the Carmen which features much newly restored music. For lovers of Carmen you might want to avoid this production as it has spoken text from the novel read out and some fairly out there moments. I thought it was an interesting production, but it didn't make me like the Opera any more than I don't already.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Sloe said:


> I strongly disagree.
> I find it very rewarding with operas in translation and how I feel a stronger connection to the singing and don´t have to turn my head to look at a text machine.


Works better in a small theatre. Surtitles NEEDED for Iolanthe and singers today just don't get trained for this pronunciation.

I too enjoy Opera in English.

But face it, we are very much in a minority.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> RE ROH next year.


Forza is the plum, have you seen that cast(s)?

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Belowpar said:


> Works better in a small theatre. Surtitles NEEDED for Iolanthe and singers today just don't get trained for this pronunciation.
> 
> I too enjoy Opera in English.
> 
> But face it, we are very much in a minority.


I don't mind opera in English per se, even Wagner at a push; however it feels absurd to have Aida sung in English with English surtitles. That's just bonkers! I think a good case can made for Janacek, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov et al to be sung in English as these aren't known for their famous arias.

What I really hate about ENO is that the English language thing is slavishly followed... until they decide to put something on in Sanskrit or Ancient Greek (yes really, been there for both) and these are apparently fine. ENO lost the argument years ago.

Their 18/19 season isn't released yet. Hope there's something worthwhile!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Forza is the plum, have you seen that cast(s)?
> 
> N.


I can see it at a cinema, minus Netrebko, well, can't have it all.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Pugg said:


> I can see it at a cinema, minus Netrebko, well, can't have it all.


Is Monastyrska in the cinema cast, then? (Some would say you can have it all!)

:devil:

N.


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

The Conte said:


> Forza is the plum, have you seen that cast(s)?
> 
> N.


You'll probably need to take out a second mortgage to be able to afford a ticket!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Is Monastyrska in the cinema cast, then? (Some would say you can have it all!)
> 
> :devil:
> 
> N.


No Conte, I meant minus point for me personally = Netrebko, one of those voices I just have no connection with.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Don Fatale said:


> Covent Garden next season:
> 
> http://www.roh.org.uk/seasons/2018-19
> 
> ...


Pique dame is the same production we had in Amsterdam. It has Tchaikovsky as a character... I didn't like it, to put it mildly. 
Would like to see the complete Ring but it would take more than 1 week in London, can't afford that. Maybe take excerpts.
Jaho in Traviata is interesting. 10 years ago she replaced Netrebko in the same role, and triumphed.
Forza is a must see, dreamcast for me. Heard of all the singers in Verdi, but never combined in one opera - very promising ! It will probably bring down the online ticket sales server again.
Figaro conducted by Gardiner is hard to resist.


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## Star (May 27, 2017)

We went last night to see the Macbeth broadcast from the ROH at the local cinema - we can't afford London prices. We agreed it was a thrilling production with two huge star turns - Lucic as Macbeth sang well. But the star - surprisingly as I'd only heard her in romantic parts - was Netrebko as Lady Macbeth - the epitome of evil. Later she gave a superb sleepwalking scene as she degenerates. One of the great female roles. Everything else was good. Production had its quirks but never got in the way. The witches were quite scary which they should be. And Papanno in pit - no better opera conductor (especially of Verdi) today.
So two great contrasting evenings - Cosi on Saturday and Macbeth last night. Made possible by wonders of modern technology at an affordable price. Ain't we orivileged?


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

You were luckier than me. I have a motorised satellite dish and can (perfectly legally I should add), pick up the ROH transmissions in my own home. Unfortunately and partly because I live so close to the coast, the dish is very exposed. The wind, which had been behaving itself all day, suddenly strengthened in the evening to the point where the dish was being battered so much the transmission was unwatchable. I'm hoping I'll have more luck with the "Encore" transmission on Sunday. 

I'm also hoping, for the sake of their customers, that the cinemas in this area who were showing it are able to mount their dishes in more sheltered places than mine and didn't have the same problems. I thought of the local cinema goers a good few times during the course of the evening as I listened to the wind howling!

A London friend who was at the cinema was also impressed with Netrebko as Lady Macbeth, but is wondering where she'll go from here as her voice becomes darker and heavier.


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## Star (May 27, 2017)

Annied said:


> You were luckier than me. I have a motorised satellite dish and can (perfectly legally I should add), pick up the ROH transmissions in my own home. Unfortunately and partly because I live so close to the coast, the dish is very exposed. The wind, which had been behaving itself all day, suddenly strengthened in the evening to the point where the dish was being battered so much the transmission was unwatchable. I'm hoping I'll have more luck with the "Encore" transmission on Sunday.
> 
> I'm also hoping, for the sake of their customers, that the cinemas in this area who were showing it are able to mount their dishes in more sheltered places than mine and didn't have the same problems. I thought of the local cinema goers a good few times during the course of the evening as I listened to the wind howling!
> 
> A London friend who was at the cinema was also impressed with Netrebko as Lady Macbeth, but is wondering where she'll go from here as her voice becomes darker and heavier.


No transmission problems here thankfully. Try and see the encore - it is well worth it.


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Star said:


> No transmission problems here thankfully. Try and see the encore - it is well worth it.


That's good, I'm pleased for you and yes, I'm definitely going to try to remember to set it up on Sunday and have another go.

There's a very good chance the transmission was smooth further inland, even here in the northeast. I certainly hope that was the case at any rate. I'm only half a mile from the sea and there's nothing to the east of my dish until you reach Denmark! It's undoubtedly much more exposed than one in say Newcastle city centre.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I visited the ROH yesterday with a friend, not to see an opera but to check out its new remit as a public space during the daytime. That basically means cafe spaces. The problem is that most of this takes place on the ground floor, i.e. the former ticket office area. You are free to wander the building and take a trip up the escalator for the Covent Garden rooftop views, but the catering up there was sparce so we didn't linger after getting a few photos. The ground floor cafe is nice enough with some quality and tasty snacks. Regardless of the food and coffee, it has one major thing going for it...the pride of place showcase of the Callas Tosca dress and other items from the production. I was in awe just being so close to it. So even if you can't get to an opera you can see this for free as we did. Is there anything more iconic in 20th century opera?

The ticket office has once again left the building, not returning to atmospheric Floral Street of my past, but is now in a small and minimalist office in Russell Street.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> I visited the ROH yesterday with a friend, not to see an opera but to check out its new remit as a public space during the daytime. That basically means cafe spaces. The problem is that most of this takes place on the ground floor, i.e. the former ticket office area. You are free to wander the building and take a trip up the escalator for the Covent Garden rooftop views, but the catering up there was sparce so we didn't linger after getting a few photos. The ground floor cafe is nice enough with some quality and tasty snacks. Regardless of the food and coffee, it has one major thing going for it...the pride of place showcase of the Callas Tosca dress and other items from the production. I was in awe just being so close to it. So even if you can't get to an opera you can see this for free as we did. Is there anything more iconic in 20th century opera?
> 
> *The ticket office has once again left the building, not returning to atmospheric Floral Street of my past, but is now in a small and minimalist office in Russell Street.*


I wonder what percentage of the audience buys tickets at the box office these days.


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