English National Opera’s new season opened with Tosca which is always guaranteed to draw a crowd. Puccini’s opera has much to commend it, notably a lush and inventive musical score, unforgettable arias, and moments of sometimes shocking drama. There were problems on opening night at the Coliseum. When Annilese Miskimmons, ENO’s Artistic Director, announced that…
Tag: Puccini
In ENO’s Bohème Conductor Ben Glassberg Breathes New Life into Puccini’s Score.
It has been a few years since I last saw La Bohème performed at ENO. In 2019, soprano Natalya Romaniw, sang a magnificent Mimi in that mournful timbre of hers, beautifully conveying the soul of Puccini’s ill-fated seamstress. For the 2022 season, soprano, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace has taken on the iconic role. Her bright-sounding soprano couldn’t be more…
Rock opera: ENO’s ‘Tosca’ at South Facing Festival
Once there was a time when I would have been fully on top of such exciting news: a rock festival just down the road at Crystal Palace Bowl. Only a few stops on the train, or a mere jaunt on the bus, without any need to negotiate the seething metropolis. In fact, the news reached…
Tenor Dmytro Popov hitting high notes of his career
The Ukranian opera tenor Dmytro Popov might not be someone you will have heard of. Now entering his forth decade and therefore relatively young in opera years, he has spent much of his time outside the UK, singing lead roles in the world’s most prestigious opera houses. His stupendous vocal abilities were noticed very early…
Elizabeth Llewellyn In Fine Voice in Opera Holland Park’s ‘Manon Lescaut’.
It had been quite some time since I had last seen Manon Lescaut, Puccini’s early opera. Not since 2014 when leading man, Jonas Kaufmann, the Tom Jones of opera, topped the bill, playing an overly confident De Grieux at the Royal Opera House. Nevertheless I lapped up his ill-fated love affair with Latvian soprano,…
Soprano Romaniw Sparkles in Miller’s Revival of La Bohème at ENO
A true star, Romaniw brings further magic to what is already an arresting production.
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