Reviews & features: Opera
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David Levin talks The Testament of Cresseid
20 Aug 2009
The Israeli director discusses adapting Burns for the stage
Robert Burns might be the subject of many Homecoming events this year, but Jonathan Mills’ decision to focus on the lesser-known Scottish poet Robert Henryson as part of the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2009 programme could prove a rewarding one.
Music Hitlist
10 Aug 2009
What to go see this week
GRV three-day music festival, The Juan McLean, Young Fathers and Unicorn Kid, Scotland at Night, St Kilda, Broken Records
Silviu Purcărete’s 'Faust'
13 Jul 2009
The veteran Romanian director tackles Goethe
Silviu Purcărete doesn’t do things by halves. Last time the veteran Romanian director was in Edinburgh was almost two decades ago with a version of Ubu Rex. The production was a massive take on Alfred Jarry’s absurdist classic. Since then he brought a…
St Kilda - Island of the Birdmen
13 Jul 2009
A multi-media, operatic portrayal of Island life
At 191 metres, there is no building in Scotland anywhere near as tall as Stac an Armin, the highest sea stack in Britain. Along with the slightly shorter Stac Lee, these wildly dramatic sea cliffs were among the hunting grounds for the birdmen of St…
Doris Dörrie to direct Handel's Admeto, re di Tessaglia
13 Jul 2009
The opera is given a Far Eastern flavour
It might be nearly 300 years since it was first performed in London, but Handel’s opera Admeto, re di Tessaglia isn’t showing its age. Given an innovative reworking by director Doris Dörrie, the action has been transplanted from the classical Greek…
Regal king size
21 Aug 2008
Karol Szymanowski considered himself an outsider which is why he identified with Sicily’s King Roger II and why his opera has become a gay favourite, finds Carol Main The Edinburgh International Festival’s staged opera programme is swinging from one…
Hitlist - Music
21 Aug 2008
The best gigs this fortnight
N*E*R*D Justin Timberlake guested at their Scottish debut in 2003 after the MTV Music Awards and while this night might not have the trouser-snake in tow, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams most certainly have what it takes to throw down a platinum hip hop…
The Musical of Musicals, The Musical!
18 Aug 2008
Solidly performed Sondheim send-up a safe bet
Essentially a send-up of musicals by Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein among others, The Musical of Musicals is unlikely to be appreciated (or its references understood) by non-aficionados. This said, it is solidly performed and often amusing, the…
Opera Shorts
14 Aug 2008
Intimate new work in bite-sized chunks
In its inaugural run of performances, this new opera company provides a showcase of some of Edinburgh’s freshest talent with a set of four 15-minute long operas. The intimacy of such a small theatre helps captivate the audience, and the paucity of props…
Scottish Opera: Cinderella
31 Jul 2008
A fairytale debut at the Fringe
It’s probably safe to say that Scottish Opera is the only name which appears in both the music programme of the International Festival as well as the Fringe. As part of their continuing quest to bring high quality opera to a new audience, the company…
Death becomes them - The Two Widows
22 Jul 2008
Edinburgh International Festival
Jane Irwin and Kate Valentine are at very different stages in their operatic careers. But Carol Main finds them both in exuberant mood ahead of Scottish Opera’s take on Smetana’s 19th century comedy.
Regal king size - Król Roger
22 Jul 2008
Edinburgh International Festival
Fitting neatly into the EIF’s theme of Artists Without Borders, the majestic Król Roger opens up audiences to an innovative collaboration. Carol Main chats to Festival director Jonathan Mills about the opera’s arrival in the city. Listening to a…
Bittersweet symphony - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
22 Jul 2008
Edinburgh International Festival
Brecht and Weill’s Mahagonny has inspired an artistic generation. Neil Cooper analyses the pair’s enduring appeal.
Best of the rest - Edinburgh International Festival
22 Jul 2008
Edinburgh International Festival
Giselle. Under the artistic direction of Nina Ananiashvili, the State Ballet of Georgia will be performing what many view as the definitive interpretation of this romantic ballet. Gabriela Montero Two performances here from the superb Venezuelan…
Christine Brewer
23 Aug 2007
As comfortable chatting about American Idol as she is arias, Christine Brewer is swift to dispel any notion of the opera diva. Indeed, from the moment she burst onto the stage as a teenager with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Brewer knew she had…
Opera in concert – Dido and Aeneas and Prima La Musica, Poi Le Parole
23 Aug 2007
Opera at this year’s Festival has taken an interesting journey. The programme started with Bernstein’s Candide, chronologically the last of those heard, with Monteverdi’s glorious 400 year-old L’Orfeo hot on its heels. The latter was fully – and…
Capriccio
23 Aug 2007
At the start of the Festival, opera-goers were spirited back to the genre’s origins with a spectacular production of the first great opera, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Now, as things draw to a close, the opera on offer is one which poses questions to itself…
Candide
9 Aug 2007
In setting up this year’s Opening Concert of the Edinburgh International Festival, Jonathan Mills has quickly ditched the tradition of a Sunday evening kick-off (although the St Giles’ Festival Service remains in place for the morning) and has brought…
The Turing Test
19 Jul 2007
Quite what Monteverdi would have thought about a singing computer featuring in an opera is anyone’s guess. Inspired by the famous test set by Alan Turing, founder of modern computer science, composer Julian Wagstaff has written a chamber opera to be…
Capriccio
19 Jul 2007
Richard Strauss’ final opera Capriccio, which received its premiere in 1942, is described by the composer as ‘a conversation piece for music’. A young countess cannot choose between two lovers, one a musician, the other a poet.
