Opera + Classical Music Reviews

The Coronation of Poppea @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright

There are always fresh flowers on Monteverdi’s tombstone in Venice. After a performance as uplifting as ENO’s new production of The Coronation of Poppea, this is understandable. A fresh, new translation and a wonderful post-modern…


Don Giovanni @ Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes

by Helen Wright
A visit to Glyndebourne is always a treat, partly because of the glorious setting but mostly because the performances are so consistently stunning – both musically and artistically. Year after year there are exciting new...
Don Giovanni @ Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
Oh, joy: an evening of massage for the spirit. The Mark Morris Dance Group collides with ENO – and both win. Handel’s oratorio, written in 1740, is based on the twin poems of John Milton...
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato @ Coliseum, London

Four Saints @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
There’s an end-of-term feel at ENO as its season draws to a close, with the Mark Morris Dance Group presenting the Anglo-American double bill reviewed here, and their version of the Handel oratorio, L’Allegro, il...
Four Saints @ Coliseum, London

Ernani @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
First performed at La Fenice in Venice in 1844, Ernani is early, unsophisticated Verdi and all the more fun for that. Why it is so rarely performed is a mystery. The plot (based on a...
Ernani @ Coliseum, London

St John Passion @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
Celebrating Easter 2000 and the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, the ENO made the bold decision to stage one of his great dramatic Passions, which normally unfold the Easter story in static performance. Of course...
St John Passion @ Coliseum, London

The Silver Tassie @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
After all the hype (including a CD of ‘highlights’ sent to ticket holders in advance) this World premiere was eagerly awaited but, perhaps inevitably, a disappointment. Turnage has been influenced by Britten but says that...
The Silver Tassie @ Coliseum, London

La bohème @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
La Bohème, Puccini’s tale of the Bohemian life, has been updated to the 1950s and one suspects that this is more in the interests of saving costume budgets than giving a new perspective. The lives...
La bohème @ Coliseum, London

Gawain @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
The music for Harrison Birtwistle’s opera about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was loudly heckled at its Covent Garden premiere in 1991, partly because parts of it are so complex – and so loud...
Gawain @ Coliseum, London

Alcina @ Coliseum, London

by Helen Wright
The trouble with Handel is that his original audiences didn’t have so many distractions. They were quite happy to sit for hours while his singers came on, sang a nice aria, sang it again with...
Alcina @ Coliseum, London