Ruth Elleson's Letters from London 2002

 January

Things are now starting to pick up again after the Christmas break. The Royal Opera's major new production is Francesca Zambello's staging of Don Giovanni, with Bryn Terfel in the title role and Colin Davis conducting (Simon Keenlyside will take over mid-February, with Charles Mackerras conducting). My review of both casts will be included in next month's Letter.

With apologies for the cliché, Luciano Pavarotti's appearance in Tosca was far and away the hottest ticket in town this month. Though all four performances were sold out on the first day of booking, people were queuing round the block for returns, and touts were pocketing obscene amounts of money.

Carol Vaness sang Tosca, and she did it much better than I thought she would, with passion and musicianship. I hadn't previously heard her live, and her radio broadcasts have never left me with much of an impression. Pavarotti also sounded in much better voice than I've heard in recent broadcasts, though the night I saw it, he did seem to be holding something back vocally. As Scarpia, Sergei Leiferkus was slimy and horribly credible, even in he wasn't the least bit Italianate. There was a general lack of chemistry and spontaneity on stage, partly due to Pavarotti's lack of mobility - it's hardly surprising that it never occurred to Tosca that Cavaradossi might really be dead, considering that his reaction to being fatally shot was to kneel and then lie down on the ground, as if for an impromptu afternoon nap. Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducted with some strange and unwelcome tempi at times.

I saw the final performance, which Pavarotti insisted in a press interview will not be his last appearance on a London stage. However, rumours prevail of the end of another era. I am informed that I saw the final performance of Covent Garden's legendary production, which Zeffirelli first staged in 1963 for Callas.

Infinitely better was the revival of Deborah Warner's production of The Turn of the Screw, which unfortunately failed to attract much of an audience for most performances. The adult stars - Joan Rodgers, Ian Bostridge, Jane Henschel and Vivian Tierney - were extremely impressive, but were upstaged by the strikingly accomplished and insightful performances of Julian Leang, 13, and Caroline Wise, 12, as Miles and Flora. I hope these two continue to develop their skills in to adulthood.

Meanwhile, at the Coliseum, the second instalment of the preparatory, 'staged concert' version of the English National Opera Ring cycle is underway. Staged by staff director Michael Walling, Die Walküre was visually disappointing compared with last year's fabulously-lit Rheingold (a lot more could have been done with the lighting during the Magic Fire music) but it was still compelling to watch. There were some 'improvements' to the audio, but only to the extent of the amplification of two phrases sang from offstage - Helmwige's octave-leaping Hojotoho cry, and Wotan's lead-in to his Act 3 entrance.

Vocally, the first night had problems - the main one being one of intonation, with Par Lindskog's Siegmund and Orla Boylan's Sieglinde dragging one another flatter and flatter. This was a great shame, as both - especially the 30-year-old Boylan - were in thrilling voice. (Interestingly, I returned for the second performance in which understudy Alan Beck sang Siegmund, and his superior intonation had a knock-on effect on Boylan's - much more satisfactory).

Kathleen Broderick made a big impression as Brünnhilde. Although her dramatic soprano is more suited to a medium-sized house (she has sung Turandot and Lady Macbeth for Scottish Opera) she made up for a slight lack of vocal weight with her believable portrayal of a headstrong and fallible daughter, and with her seemingly boundless physical energy. Small and slight of stature, she bounded onto the stage for her first entrance, dressed head to toe in black biker leathers, and leapt onto a podium to sound the Valkyrie war-cry. That was the moment at which she grabbed the audience's attention, and she held it to the last. But the real star was the Wotan, the resonant-voiced Robert Hayward - his portrayal was filled with the humanity which is essentially his downfall. I've often considered the thought that the main 'message' of the Ring is that gods can only succeed if they are faultless. Susan Parry continued from last year as Fricka, with Gerard O'Connor as Hunding. Best among the assorted Valkyries was Julia Melinek as Gerhilde. Orchestrally, there was some scrappiness in the horns at first, but this soon worked itself out, and the harps in the first act sounded wonderful. Paul Daniel conducted.

Elsewhere, things have been moderately quiet, the only noteworthy occasion being a performance of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Barbican. Things pick up next month, though - February and March always seem to offer the richest pickings of the operatic year, both in the major houses and elsewhere. Alongside Don Giovanni, the Royal Opera House is reviving Elijah Moshinsky's 1990 production of Attila, with a cast including Orlin Anastassov and Maria Guleghina, and at the end of the month, staging a new double-bill of Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung.

ENO is currently in rehearsal for Calixto Bieito's doubtless controversial staging of Un ballo in maschera (an import from Barcelona) which will open mid-February alongside further performances of La traviata, The Mikado and Die Walküre. Opera students of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama can be seen in Cosi fan tutte, while their Royal Academy of Music counterparts will present a double-bill of Henze's Das Wundertheater and Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges. The Royal Festival Hall is the venue for Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex (London Philharmonic Orchestra) and Handel's Rodelinda (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment), while Raymond Gubbay's promotional team has a double-whammy on its hands this month with Carmen - the latest in its series of big-scale arena productions at the Royal Albert Hall - and Iolanthe (D'Oyly Carte at the Savoy Theatre). Those in the south-west of the capital may also be interested in Riverside Opera's double-bill of the usual 'twins' - Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci - at the Richmond Theatre.

© Ruth Elleson, 13 February 2002

February 

English National Opera has been the target of much negative publicity this month due to its decision to stage Calixto Bieito's production of Un ballo in maschera. London is the third venue for the production - as a co-production with the Liceu and the Royal Danish Opera, it has arrived at the Coliseum via Barcelona and Copenhagen. After the same director's dire Don Giovanni for ENO last summer, it was understandable (if not particularly intelligent) for the UK press to seize upon the negative publicity the staging received in Barcelona, before even sending the critics to see it and form their own opinions. Add to this the fact that tenor Julian Gavin had withdrawn from the enterprise six months ago, purportedly owing to the conflict between the sexually-explicit staging and his Catholic family values, and you've got enough negative hype to put people right off from the beginning. Or to encourage them to come, depending on how you look at it.

What the first night revealed was an intelligent, dramatically-taut account of Verdi's masterpiece. The much-hyped sex and violence was entirely in keeping with the overall interpretation (whereas in Don Giovanni it had largely been gratuitous). The first-night audience, and the critics, seemed to agree that whether or not they liked the production, they didn't see what all the fuss had been about. And the singers - mostly - excelled themselves. John Daszak's Gustavus was the weak link - though a fine performer, it isn't his role, and one couldn't help wishing for Julian Gavin's full-throated Italianate quality. But as Anckarstroem, David Kempster gave it his all, establishing his status as a promising young Verdian - something which had been left very much in question after his miscasting as di Luna in last spring's embarrassing Trovatore. As Amelia, Claire Rutter finally got the opportunity she has deserved for some time - to sing a dramatic role in a big house - and she acquitted herself superbly. Mary Plazas was unusual vocal casting for Oscar (here played as a female secretary) but proved herself more than capable of the role's high-lying coloratura, and Rebecca de Pont Davies moved out of her accustomed comprimario territory to sing a glamorous Mme. Arvidson. Andrew Litton conducted a strongly-driven, dramatic account of the score.

At the Royal Opera House, two very different conductors led two very different casts in Francesca Zambello's new staging of Don Giovanni. The first cast, headed by Bryn Terfel with Colin Davis conducting, pulled in the crowds - but it was the second which really caught fire. Charles Mackerras's leading man was Simon Keenlyside, whose edgy, chiselled good looks added to a dark, smouldering vocal portrayal. Of the rest of the cast, the most striking was Ana Maria Martinez as a lustrous, deranged Donna Elvira - not a secure sound, but very exciting - and the young American, Christine Goerke, sang with voluminous tone as Donna Anna. The staging was altered slightly between the two performances I saw, to its advantage.

In Covent Garden's revival of Elijah Moshinsky's staging of Attila, the young Bulgarian bass Orlin Anastassov impressed everybody with his huge, dark voice and commanding presence. Maria Guleghina, scheduled to sing Odabella, had sung the first performance before becoming ill. For the second night, English soprano Susan Stacey had stepped into the breach. By the third performance the company had drafted in house debutante Dimitra Theodossiou, the young Greek soprano who has been making her name throughout Europe in this role alone. It was easy to see why. Theodossiou has a large and exciting voice which is capable of all the bel canto refinement of Verdi's early work, and of singing piano, and she performs with such commitment as to hold the audience's attention even when she is not singing. An additional bonus at this Saturday matinee was the substitution of Dennis O'Neill, in remarkable voice, for Franco Farina as Foresto. Mark Elder further reinforced his Verdi reputation with a memorable account of the score.

The Royal Albert Hall saw the latest in Raymond Gubbay's ongoing series of 'arena operas', designed to have mass appeal. This year's show was Carmen, staged by David Freeman. The vibrant, interesting production was staged on a platform curling around the arena, with a hollow in the middle which provided the cigarette factory of Act 1 and the bullring of Act 4. Peter Robinson conducted with verve, though at Carmen's most seductive moments - the Habanera, the impromptu dance for Don Jose in Act 2 - his tempi were simply too fast. Necessitated by the intensive run of performances (almost daily, and sometimes twice-daily, for more than two weeks) there were several casts; I saw one led by Claire Bradshaw, who sang with rich tone and acted with confidence. Her ability was not entirely matched by Antoni Garfield Henry as Don Jose, whose tone was often uneven. Julie Unwin sang a delightful, sympathetic Micaela, and David Stephenson dominated his scenes as Escamillo. There were some wonderfully detailed characters among the chorus, especially some of the children. As usual on these occasions, the chorus list read like a Who's Who of the UK's future stars - those who have emerged from the colleges and training programmes in recent years. The amplification was well-used, and Amanda Holden's English translation proved successful.

The Royal Festival Hall was the venue for concert performances of Rodelinda (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and Oedipus Rex (London Philharmonic Orchestra) while the Guildhall School of Music staged Cosi fan tutte (a rare expedition into standard repertoire). The D'Oyly Carte staged Iolanthe (the first of two Gilbert and Sullivan operettas this season) in its home theatre, the Savoy.

March is, as usual, the busiest time of London's operatic year. The Royal Opera continues with its double-bill of Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung (this opened in February, but my review will appear in my March letter), and house favourite Elena Kelessidi returns to sing Amina in La sonnambula. ENO will stage a revival of Ariodante (with a wonderful cast led by Sarah Connolly), and Bach's Johannes-Passion is coming back to take us up to Easter. University College London Opera's 2002 project is as ambitious as ever, with a staging of Benvenuto Cellini. The Barbican's Great Performers series includes two operas - Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and Weber's Oberon - while Chelsea Opera Group's spring concert comprises a Rakhmaninov double bill of The Miserly Knight (Skupoy rytsar) and Francesca da Rimini. April 29 sees three rarities in various venues - Walton's Troilus and Cressida at the Royal Festival Hall, Rossi's Orfeo at the Guildhall School of Music, and Granados's Goyescas at St John's, Smith Square.

© Ruth Elleson, 5 March 2002

March

English National Opera's month began with a disappointing revival of Ariodante. Though Sarah Connolly and Mary Nelson excelled themselves as Ariodante and Dalinda, they were overshadowed by some appalling miscasting elsewhere in the opera. The worst culprit was the normally reliable Sally Burgess as Polinesso - a role which last time round was sung by the countertenor Christopher Robson, and which clearly lies far too low for her. She croaked and barked her way through the piece, resorting to pantomime villainy to get her character across. Catrin Wyn Davies's Ginevra was shrill and often sharp, and she had a tendency to rush her coloratura - though she did improve as the evening went on. Paul Nilon's Lurcanio sounded weak and forced at times, though another cast member later told me that he had been unwell. Harry Christophers's conducting was sometimes too fast, but provided an excellent musical stage for the choreographed instrumental entr'actes.

As Easter approached it was time for a revival of Deborah Warner's acclaimed staging of Bach's Johannes-Passion. Many of the soloists returned from the original production, with the excellent Mark Padmore as the Evangelist, Paul Whelan as Christus, and David Kempster a smart-suited Pilatus. Among the aria soloists, the returners were Catherine Wyn-Rogers (contralto) and Barry Banks (tenor) - the soprano and bass were two emerging young artists, the fresh-voiced Canadian Gillian Keith (winner of the Ferrier award in 2000) and James Rutherford (who I first spotted in the title role of British Youth Opera's 1999 production of Falstaff). The staging has changed little, and as ever it relies on evocative but rarely stark images of the Passion story. As a Christian, I found depths in it which I am not sure would have been available to a non-believer.

The Royal Opera's pairing of Bluebeard's Castle (A kékszakállú herceg vára) and Erwartung was never destined to fill the theatre - a real shame, because Bluebeard in particular was as powerful and memorable a performance as one could hope for. Willy Decker staged this double-bill as a single concept - Bluebeard's seventh door, through which Judit exits at the end of Bartok's opera, became a large backdrop through which Schoenberg's Woman emerges, dressed in red like all of Bluebeard's wives, into the same collapsed palace. Katarina Dalayman and Willard White sand Judit and Bluebeard, though the real star was the orchestra, who played magnificently. An astonishing piece of staging enabled the work's musical climax (at the opening of the fifth door) to make a lasting impression. As for Erwartung, Inga Nielsen presented a compellingly deranged account of the protagonist, but the orchestra was still on such good form that she was outshone. The maestro responsible for this wonderful playing was Lothar Zagrosek.

Many have pointed out that the bicentenary of Bellini's birth was overlooked last year in favour of the centenary of Verdi's death. Though the Royal Opera can hardly use this as an excuse - only one new Verdi production in the whole of 2001! - there was certainly a shortage of Bellini, with just one tired-looking revival of I Capuleti e I Montecchi. The company's atonement came this month with a new (well, imported) staging of La sonnambula, a vehicle for two of Covent Garden's favourite guest stars - the soprano Elena Kelessidi and the superstar Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Florez. Given that I'm too young to have heard a live Sonnambula with Joan Sutherland or Maria Callas in the title role, I'm fortunately not in a position to jump on the critical bandwagon which seemed determined to find faults with Kelessidi's interpretation. My personal impression was that she gave a charming, sympathetic performance, but in terms of vocal brilliance she was comprehensively upstaged by both Florez - with his characteristic light, effortless bel canto singing - and Inger Dam Jensen, who sang the smaller role of Lisa. Marco Arturo Marelli's production, set in an upmarket Alpine health retreat, looked marvellous, but had too many ideas - so many that he felt the need to write a lengthy justification for them in the programme notes. Maurizio Benini's conducting was unobtrusive but unremarkable.

Unlike the last two productions by University College London Opera, this year's production of Benvenuto Cellini was sung in he original language. I am an advocate of opera in English when the occasion demands it, and I think a translation here would have benefited both the audience and the student chorus. Somehow the piece did not have the immediacy of recent UCL productions, and the young professional principals were not as well-chosen for their particular roles. Over at the Barbican, the Great Performers series saw two terrific evenings of semi-staged opera - first Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria by Les Arts Florissants, then L'Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique with an abridged version of its Chatelet staging of Oberon.

Next month, Jane Eaglen returns to the Coliseum for Francesca Zambello's new production of La vestale, and ENO will also revive Jude Kelly's staging of L'elisir d'amore with a cast largely assembled from within the company. Herbert Wernicke's controversial 2000 production of Tristan und Isolde has already hit various obstacles on its way back to the Royal Opera stage, including losing both of its protagonists - Wolfgang Muller-Lorenz and Lisa Gasteen will perform the roles originally planned for Ben Heppner and Gabriele Schnaut, under the direction of Bernard Haitink in his last appearances as musical director of the company. Covent Garden's other April opening is Il trovatore, with Jose Cura and Veronica Villaroel. Elsewhere in London, Opera International brings another of its Eastern European companies to the Royal Albert Hall - this time it's the National Opera of Moldova with Nabucco and Tosca - while at the Barbican, the Great Performers series continues with a performance of Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto and an evening of scenes from Lully's operas. The Wigmore Hall is home as ever to the final stages of the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award competition for young singers, but this year the same week sees a second competition - the inaugural Rita Hunter Award for Sopranos.

© Ruth Elleson, 3 April 2002

April 

On April 16th, the sad news was announced of the death of German opera director Herbert Wernicke at the age of just 56. As it happened, his Royal Opera production of Tristan und Isolde had opened for its first revival less than two weeks earlier, to somewhat greater critical acclaim than at its original run in autumn 2000.

The reason for the improvement was, it has to be said, not much to do with Wernicke himself. Nor was it anything to do with the woefully inadequate performance of tenor Wolfgang Muller-Lorenz, who had stepped into the cast at a few weeks' notice after Ben Heppner announced his continuing indisposition. No, along with the two staples of the 2000 cast - Alan Titus and Petra Lang, both in thrilling voice as Kurwenal and Brangane respectively - the success of this revival came in the shape of a thrilling night's conducting from Bernard Haitink and the sensational Isolde of a former Cardiff Singer of the World, the Australian soprano Lisa Gasteen.

After her success at Cardiff, Gasteen quickly slipped from notice in the UK, and has stealthily been building her career elsewhere, principally in her homeland. Having been drafted into the Covent Garden Tristan after the production's original Isolde (the strident and permanently flat Gabriele Schaut) pulled out of the revival, this was Gasteen's house debut. From her Act 1 narration to her Liebestod, her performance was sure and exciting in every gleaming note, with real consideration for the words (if not with entirely idiomatic pronunciation) and with a really streamlined, cohesive sense of Wagnerian phrasing all too infrequently heard on the London stage. The late Herbert Wernicke would no doubt be very happy at the improved standards of casting.

Later in the month, the house premiered Elijah Moshinsky's new staging of Il trovatore. The production was traditional in spirit, but with memorable, visually striking sets in which everything was large-scale. The cynical view is that in the scheme of the Verdi repertoire, Trovatore is the potboiler that made it big - but somehow, much to its credit, Moshinsky managed to make the plot and characters utterly believable.

His cast was headed by superstar tenor Jose Cura - in rich and testosterone-laden voice - and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, whose beauty of tone and melting sense of line were marred only by his very audible intakes of breath. More impressive than either of these was Yvonne Naef's Azucena. This was the mezzo's London debut but she produced the kind of singing which one longs to hear more often in Verdi. Huge and thrilling, her voice and dramatic commitment earned her the respect and vociferous applause of the audience. Veronica Villaroel looked lovely as Leonora and sang with limpid tone, but her diction - or lack thereof - is most offputting. I like to hear vowels and consonants, but in her case really either would suffice - as a compromise. Carlo Rizzi took parts of the score too slowly, and the percussionist got out of time in the Anvil Chorus - but all in all, this was a sterling evening of music and drama.

Over at the Coliseum, former house soprano Jane Eaglen starred as Julia in the first London staging for 160 years of Spontini's La vestale. Francesca Zambello's production for her cast of top-notch singers (NOT actors) was aided by the simple clarity of Alison Chitty's designs, which on the whole worked very well. Eaglen had a tendency to sound pinched at the top, but otherwise produced some wonderful singing; as her lover Licinius, John Hudson surprised me with his increasingly easy, open and powerful tone. Anne-Marie Owens and Gerard O'Connor sounded less than their best. The chorus sang well, but the boredom that had set in during the rehearsal period occasionally showed through. David Parry was as usual crisp, driven and energetic in his conducting.

After an unfortunate performance at the end of the run of ENO's Un ballo in maschera - plagued first by a power failure in the mechanism which raises the curtain, then later by an injury to a young understudy Oscar, Giselle Minns - the company's first night of L'elisir d'amore also encountered a problem. A young house principal, the Irish soprano Alison Roddy, was due to sing her first Adina but had been unwell throughout the final week of rehearsal. As the hectic rehearsal schedule had given her understudy, Louise Walsh, less than adequate preparation for walking the part through, the first night was sung by Walsh from the side of the stage and mimed by Roddy. Fortunately, all went well, with Andrew Shore's shifty Dulcamara and Sally Harrison's champagne-loving Gianetta stealing the show. Rhys Meirion sang his first Nemorino; Ashley Holland repeated his suave, arrogant Belcore.

Jude Kelly's production does not appeal to everybody, with its strange choice of updated setting (an office in a fascist Mediterranean country c.1950). But apart from the beginning, which the setting causes to be rather drab and grey, there is not a wrong note struck. Characters and relationships fit perfectly into the surroundings, and though parts of Arthur Jacobs's translation sound dated, Dulcamara's lines raise many a chortle for the right reasons. Michael Lloyd conducted what turned out to be a very enjoyable in-house effort.

Les Talens Lyriques almost failed to make it to the Barbican for their single London performance of Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto. Having been trapped in Paris by industrial action among customs staff, they finally arrived at the venue at around 6pm for what should have been a 6:30 start. Brushing themselves off with remarkable professional aplomb, the performance went ahead with great success - albeit almost an hour late. At the Royal Albert Hall, the National Opera of Moldova's performance of Nabucco on 22 April was one of the company's better efforts, though three things let it down - the breakneck-speed conducting by Nicolae Dohotaru, the hilariously cheap special effects, and a truly horrendous Zaccaria (the bass Vitale Cires). The Wigmore Hall hosted the 2002 Kathleen Ferrier Award, with mezzo Karen Cargill and bass Jonathan Lemalu (both 26) sharing the first and second prizes equally.

Next month sees the opening of the Royal Opera's sell-out new production of La rondine (starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna) and concert performances of Daphne (with up-and-coming soprano Alexandra van der Weth). ENO's eagerly-awaited new staging of Lulu, featuring a cast including Lisa Saffer, Robert Hayward and Susan Parry, will open at the Coliseum on 1 May, to be closely followed by a revival of Nicholas Hytner's beautiful production of Madama Butterfly and Matthew Warchus's new staging of Cosi fan tutte.

© Ruth Elleson, 27 April 2002

May

The Coliseum has had trouble attracting audiences lately. Low figures for many of last season's productions were exacerbated by the the tourist slump following September 11, and still further by the temporary disfigurement of the building by the scaffolding and plastic sheeting associated with the renovation work, discouraging passers-by from simply 'popping in'. Above all, it's been a while since there was a really good new production at the Coliseum.

It was in spectacular fashion that the English National Opera dragged itself out of its deepening rut, with its first-ever staging of Lulu. Though it was never destined to sell out (even Covent Garden has promised to drop its prices for next season's Wozzeck!), it was an oasis in ENO's artistic desert &endash; a truly memorable, vibrant and above all thought-provoking new staging by Richard Jones. Jones used the audience as voyeur, with performers and spectators entering the Animal Tamer's 'adult entertainment' establishment at the start of the piece. At the end, even Lulu herself &endash; whose murder we had just witnessed &endash; left the club, having stepped out of her role, pursued by Countess Geschwitz. The message is plain &endash; the character of Lulu is dead and gone, but there will always be a demand which must be supplied.

Against Paul Steinberg's series of breathtakingly kitsch tableaux, Lisa Saffer's performance in the title role was mesmerising. She handled the difficult music with note-perfect ease, and her tiny figure looked mouthwatering in every one of her many costumes and wigs. Robert Hayward (Schön/Jack), John Graham-Hall (Alwa) and Rebecca de Pont Davies (Dresser/Schoolboy/Waiter) provided particularly strong support amid a generally impressive cast. Only Susan Parry's Geschwitz never really came to life. Paul Daniel, in the pit, finally appeared to have found something he was good at.

The Royal Opera House did sell out &endash; thanks to the failsafe combination of Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Puccini. The opera in question was La rondine, in Nicolas Joël's long-awaited staged version following the couple's recording of the piece with Pappano (for EMI) and the concert version they performed at the Royal Albert Hall during the house's long closure.

Admittedly, this is not a piece in which the soprano and tenor have equal weight. It's all about Magda, and Gheorghiu followed the character through from beginning to end, always warm and insightful. She spun some wonderful pianissimi in the Doretta aria, and produced expansive sound in the Act 2 ensemble and Act 3 duet. Alagna too was well cast, with his fresh and slightly naïve quality a perfect foil to Gheorghiu's lustrousness in the context of this piece. Both had occasional slips of intonation, but the opera really could have been written for them. The cast also included Charles Workman and Cinzia Forte as an engaging Prunier and Lisette, and Darren Jeffery as an undercast Rambaldo.

The side was let down slightly not only by Gianluigi Gelmetti's indifferent conducting, but by Franca Squarciapino's expensive-looking but unflattering costumes. Ezio Frigerio's sets were attractive, but variable in their appropriateness &endash; Act 1 was underdone, Act 2 overdone and Act 3 just gorgeous.

Also at the ROH, two concert performances of Daphne proved, for the benefit of anybody who missed Boulevard Solitude last season, that the young German soprano Alexandra van der Weth is one to watch. However, her performance (supported by Johan Botha, Roberto Sacca and Jane Henschel) would have made a lot more sense to a lot more people if the house administration team had not slipped up. The concerts were not surtitled, because the libretto was printed in the programmes, and there were no cast lists printed for the benefit those who preferred not to fork out five pounds for a full programme. Consequently the programmes sold out very fast - and a large portion of the audience were left without too much idea of what was going on. It may sound petty, but these things matter.

ENO's latest revival of the Graham Vick staging Madama Butterfly was a perfect demonstration of the company's flagging ticket sales. The last revival was two years ago when it sold out every night, including standing-room (which at the Coliseum is only released when all other tickets are gone). This revival's first night was on a Saturday, and there were many empty seats dotted around the house. Perhaps in this case it was the slightly less attractive cast list which deterred the punters. Julia Melinek put in a decent performance, but not in the same league as her predecessors Cheryl Barker and Susan Bullock. Partnered by the now ageing Pinkerton of Bonaventura Bottone, there was certainly less passion in the two leading roles than on previous occasions. But Christine Rice was a compelling Suzuki &endash; if she feels this role is starting to feel like a comfy old pair of slippers, then it certainly doesn't show. And two pieces of unashamed luxury casting really brought everything back on track, with Alan Opie as Sharpless and Victoria Simmonds as Kate Pinkerton. Noel Davies conducted.

Perhaps the most interesting event of the month was Chelsea Opera Group's concert performance of Anna Bolena at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Nelly Miricioiu, a company favourite and a guaranteed sell-out, headed the cast in a performance which would not have sounded out of place in any international house. Vital parts of the score were cut, but this was due to the fact that Justin Lavender had stepped into the role of Percy at a day's notice &endash; having never so much as looked at it before. He did a fine job and was well rewarded by the very warm audience. Anne Mason (Giovanna), Jeremy White (Enrico) and Sarah Castle (Smeton) were a stirling supporting cast, under the baton of Brad Cohen. It is, however, rather a shame that the South Bank Centre allowed this concert to be scheduled on the same evening as a recital next door by Juan Diego Florez &endash; given that a large contingent of the audience at each concert would dearly have liked to attend both events. Myself included.

Just time to mention this year's National Opera Studio showcase. The outstanding students in the current batch are sopranos Ha-Young Lee and Sarah Sullivan, mezzo Karen Cargill and bass-baritone Joakim Berg. Watch out for these names in the future.

Next month takes us almost to the end of the season, with Cosi fan tutte, The Fairy Queen and The Silver Tassie at ENO, and La boheme, Macbeth, Pikovaya dama and Simon Boccanegra at the ROH. The conservatoires are offering a variety of repertoire, ranging from L'incoronazione di Poppea at Trinity College of Music to the GSMD production of Argento's Postcard from Morocco. And of course the Holland Park Theatre will be open for business again, beginning with Bizet's ever-popular Les pêcheurs des perles.

© Ruth Elleson, 4 June 2002

June

The Royal Opera House did Verdi proud this month, with Phyllida Lloyd's new production of Macbeth and a revival of Elijah Moshinsky's 1991 staging of Simon Boccanegra. The original intention of the Macbeth project was to do the 1847 version of the piece, but during the planning process - after, in fact, the company had already released early publicity for the early version - a decision was taken to go with the better-known 1865 revision.

Despite an excessive vibrato and a cracked high D flat, Maria Guleghina's intense Lady Macbeth dominated the piece, with Anthony Michaels-Moore's Macbeth very much in her shadow. There were impressive contributions elsewhere in the cast - early in the run, Alastair Miles sang Banquo, but the less familiar Erwin Schrott gavea dark-voiced and deeply satisfying account of the later performances.

The moving gilded cage which occupied centre-stage for many scenes caused problems at my first visit (the performance began thirty minutes late, with no sign of the cage), thought fortunately I was able to see a later performance which went without a hitch. The weaker spots (an Otello-inspired presentation of flowers to Lady Macbeth by the children of the party guests, and a highly unimaginative dance during the Brindisi) were excused thanks to some effective dramaturgical ideas - Lady Macbeth slits her wrists, covering her hands in blood once again. For once, Simone Young conducted very impressively, driving forward the drama while maintaining sensitivity for the atmosphere.

The cast of Simon Boccanegra was headed by the excellent Alexandru Agache, but his lesser-known colleagues impressed me even more - soprano Tamar Iveri (Amelia) and tenor Marco Berti (Adorno), both making their Royal Opera debuts. Surprisingly, Alan Opie's Paolo was somewhat underpowered, perhaps just by comparison. The acting came a distant second to the singing, but it hardly seemed to matter. The chorus and orchestra were on top form, under Richard Farnes.

Francesca Zambello's production of Pique Dame (Pikovaya dama) returned to great acclaim, and - thanks to the presence of a certain Placido Domingo for three of the five performances - full houses. Regrettably I was unable to get to one of his performances, which (by all accounts) more than fulfilled their promise. Instead I heard Vitali Tarachenko, whose very effective, deranged portrayal was let down by his slightly thin, wavery tone. Nicolai Putilin returned as an excellent Tomsky, while Thomas Allen's Yeletsky could not quite match the 2001 performance by Hvorostovsky. Susan Chilcott's refined Lisa could have let go a little more, but she sang with shining tone. It was her London stage debut, a honour which was due to go to ENO's War and Peace earlier in the season when nature intervened - Chilcott left the operatic stage for several months to undergo treatment for breast cancer. Her appearance as Lisa therefore attracted a great deal of positive publicity for the production - something it badly needed after the tragedy last year of Jenny Grahn's suicide.

And John Copley's 1974 production of La bohème - yes, again - returned with three casts. Unfortunately Cristina Gallardo-Domas was ill the day I was meant to hear her as Mimi, but Ramon Vargas's Rodolfo has improved no end since the last revival. The replacement Mimi was Emily Pulley, who I also heard in one of her scheduled performances opposite Tito Beltran (also improved). It was Pulley's Royal Opera debut - she made a few mistakes, but her tone was sweet throughout, and what started as a slighly bland performance grew in intensity and she was especially good in Act Three. Even more impressive was another ROH debutante, who sang two performances opposite Jorge Antonio Pita - the Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, who captured perfectly Mimi's shyness and coloured her voice subtly. The Musetta and Marcello in all three casts were Ainhoa Arteta and Peter Coleman-Wright.

At the Coliseum, Matthew Warchus's new production of Cosi fan tutte for the English National Opera made its debut under the expert baton of Mark Wigglesworth. Sets and costumes were monochrome, or more accurately, sepia - until the arrival of the disguised gents ("Giuseppe" and "Luigi", in Jeremy Sams's fine translation already heard this year at the Guildhall School) who brought colour with them, eventually converting the ladies to colour. A simple, some may say obvious, device - but highly effective. The strongest elements of the cast were Andrew Shore as Alfonso, and Janis Kelly (who really should have been singing Fiordiligi) as a Despina whose cynicism was rooted in some personal romantic trauma. Toby Spence and Christopher Maltman made a fine job of Ferrando and Guglielmo; Susan Gritton and Mary Plazas left less of an impression. Gritton's Fiordiligi sang her arias, especially 'Per pieta' with beautiful tone but no real weight in the lower register; Mary Plazas is a soprano, and not a particularly deep-rooted one at that, so her spunky Dorabella contrasted little with Gritton and made for some bland ensembles.

David Pountney's riotous interpretation of The Fairy Queen - which presents Purcell's music as a stand-alone entertainment - returned to ENO this month, conducted by Paul Daniel and with his wife Joan Rodgers heading the cast. The dazzling choreography, day-glo stage designs and non-stop activity never took away from Purcell's music.

Paul Daniel also conducted the season's closer, Mark-Antony Turnage's The Silver Tassie, in its first revival - a rare accolade for a piece of just two years old. Turnage's operatic language is multilayered and symphonic, with interpolated folk tunes; in three of the four acts, its lavishness occasionally threatens to overwhelm Sean O'Casey's play. The second act, with its devastating evocation of life in the trenches, is the opera's emotional centrepiece, and here the balance of music and drama is perfect. This year's cast was headed by Gary Magee, not as physically suited to the role as his predecessor Gerald Finley ("He's a big lad, our Harry") and not weighty enough in the lower register, but giving a performance of compelling tragedy with some great beauty in the upper voice. As his girlfriend, Jessie, Alison Roddy was perfect in character as well as voice, while Susan Parry seemed a little stiff as Susie. Many of the original cast members returned to their roles, including Leslie John Flanagan as Barney, and the excellent David Kempster and Vivian Tierney as the violent-tempered Teddy Foran and his long-suffering wife. Gerard O'Connor made a good job of the Croucher - the prophetic soloist of the Act Two tableau - but could not equal the creator of the role, Gwynne Howell.

London's two royal schools of music collectively - and unintentionally - provided a lesson this month in the right and wrong ways to stage an opera on a budget. Both conservatoires had some fine cast members; the Royal College of Music had the edge, with Andrew Kennedy and Julianne de Villiers excelling themselves in Oedipus rex followed by a lavish (and less satisfying) Gianni Schicchi as a vehicle for the college's current star, Jonathan Lemalu. Given that the budget had clearly been blown on the latter opera, the stark minimalism of Oedipus rex was done in exceptional taste and with great benefit to the piece. Over at the Royal Academy of Music, a mixed cast - terrific women, not sure about the gentlemen - took part in a positively dire production of Falstaff which rather than looking artistically minimalist, just looked horribly cheap. Bare walls, fancy-dress wigs and a Butlins-style curtain of silver streamers all played their parts in an enterprise which did none of the singers any favours.

Summer is upon us. Holland Park opened for business in June with a very creditable Les pêcheurs de perles; it continues in July with Suor Angelica and Pagliacci, La rondine, Adriana Lecouvreur and Don Giovanni. At the Barbican is yet another Don Giovanni, courtesy of Garsington Festival Opera. The Royal Opera season ends with concerts - performances of Roberto Devereux, farewell gala concerts for Bernard Haitink, and the end-of-year show for this season's Vilar Young Artists. Then there's the Proms. . . .

© Ruth Elleson, 10 July 2002

July 

The annual series of opera at the Holland Park Theatre continued this month, and proved one of the strongest in recent memory. After Vernon Mound's enjoyable staging of Les pecheurs des perles at the end of June, the season continued with Suor Angelica, which, in a strong production with a strong cast, would be one of my favourite operas. Unfortunately in this case it proved to be the lowlight of the season. Things began with an interminable 'scene-setting' exercise - following the entrance of conductor Nicoletta Conti, a good four or five minutes passed as the audience sat in silence watching the various nuns arriving alone or in pairs for evening chapel. When the opening bell-chimes finally sounded, they were unnecessarily slow. Matt Lane's staging was dull and at times mawkish; and the most important members of the cast were simply not up to the job.

Luckily the other half of the double-bill was a modern-dress Pagliacci, in a passionate staging (by Jamie Hayes) with a superb cast. Geraint Dodd's dry tenor lacks the 'juice' of a big lyric voice, but he sang the role of Canio capably and was always on the dramatic edge. The Sicilian soprano Loredana Arcuri was superb in her characterisation of Nedda, a voluptuous tart with a big blonde perm and a tight leopard-print dress. Olafur Sigurdarson was the strongest singer in the cast, a Tonio of great warmth and feeling, and young Christopher Steele was a delightful Beppe. The conducting was lively, the acting believable, and the direction of the chorus (including a large number of local children) vibrant. The marquee-like theatre proved the perfect arena for the audience-participation aspect of the production, giving the impression of a night at the circus, and the infamous Holland Park peacocks resisted the temptation to punctuate Nedda's birdsong aria with some sound effects of their own! A joy, if only it hadn't been paired with that ghastly Suor Angelica.

Unusually for Holland Park - which usually presents each opera for two solid weeks, with alternating casts - the next two operas, La rondine and Adriana Lecouvreur, alternated over a period of three weeks. Anne-Sophie Duprels, a pretty French soprano with luscious, peachy tone, headed the cast of La rondine alongside young tenor Sean Ruane. I had previously only heard Dominic Natoli in heavier Puccini and Verdi roles, but his Prunier was a revelation - the light-lyric, almost French style really seems perfect for him. Gail Pearson sparkled as Lisette. Jeremy Silver's conducting sometimes seemed a little four-square; greater flexibility in the more lyrical passages would have been appreciated.

I fell so in love with Adriana Lecouvreur that I saw it three more times. The 1920s setting may have made nonsense of Maurizio's fear of the Bastille, but it allowed for some stylish costumes. Best served in the wardrobe department was none other than Rosalind Plowright, who re-launched herself as a mezzo a couple of years ago and who made a stellar job of the Principessa de Buillon, costumed in elegant gold in Act 2 and slinky black in Act 3. From her first entrance her catlike, mesmerising presence dominated the performance - especially, crucially, during Act 4 during which she never physically appears on stage. Leading lady Christine Bunning was easily outsung - but would not allow herself to be outacted. She was sympathetic, credible, human - even making that faintly ludicrous final scene into something really plausible - and the occasional 'grand gesture' was nothing but appropriate for this theatrical diva. Justin Lavender's Maurizio was as dashing in a homburg and greatcoat as in his military uniform - small of voice compared with his female colleagues, but conveying just the right level of naivety. As Michonnet, Charles Johnston was another star - really a little young for the part, but he acted with warmth and wit, and sang beautifully.

The characters and situations were captured in meticulous detail, especially the backstage chaos of Act 1, from the acidic sniping of the two comprimario actresses (sung by Chloe Wright and Maria Jones, who also appeared in La rondine) to the sight of the Prince and the Abbe signing in with the stage-door porter.

The two operas shared the same set - a tasteful light-blue box with a number of infinitely-adaptable alcoves. The Act 3 ballet in Adriana was cast mainly from particularly tall and muscular dancers, who didn't have nearly enough space on the 'stage' (the right-hand side of the performance area was a raised platform), but other than this the layout worked extremely well.

Concluding the season was Don Giovanni, in a simple, sexually-charged but intelligent staging by Martin Lloyd-Evans. All things considered, he second of two casts handled the music extremely well, and the orchestra played wonderfully for Cem Mansur. Only Mark Evans in the title role, and Joanna Burton as Donna Elvira, sounded a little overstretched. Olivia Keen brought a lovely voice and total emotional commitment to Donna Anna, and Christopher Saunders - made to play Don Ottavio as a heartless, self-centred prig - sounded warm and easy at the top. Peter Grant's Leporello was coarse but very likeable; Anne Bourne was an earthy, teasing Zerlina who got up to all sorts to keep Masetto (Paul Keohone) happy. Joao Fernandes was a VERY young Commendatore, but sang the role ably.

Earlier in the month, Don Giovanni was also given at the Barbican by performers from the Garsington Festival. Emma Bell was a thrilling Donna Elvira, though she didn't manage to steal the show from the tall, suave Don Giovanni of Tom Erik Lie. Steuart Bedford's tempi tended towards the erratic, but Stephen Unwin's production played things absolutely straight, and there were no cuts. Well worth the walk across London necessitated by a drivers' strike on the Underground.

At the Royal Opera House, concert performances of Roberto Devereux were given with Nelly Miricioiu in the title role. Elsewhere, Bernard Haitink bid farewell to his position at the Royal Opera House amid all-star concerts of staged excerpts - Thomas Allen and Felicity Lott as the Almavivas, Robert Lloyd as Filippo II, John Tomlinson as Hans Sachs. The same week, the inaugural members of the Royal Opera's Vilar Young Artists' Programme gave their end-of year performance, from which sopranos Sally Matthews and Gweneth-Ann Jeffers emerged as the artists with greatest potential - Jeffers as a Straussian of amplitude and beauty, Matthews as a dazzling rising star in the lyric Italian repertoire.

At the Proms, the first complete opera performance of the season was Oliver Knussen's double bill of Higgledy Piggledy Pop! and Where the Wild Things Are. The Royal Albert Hall was sparsely populated (the hot weather would have discouraged those unaware of the Hall's new air-conditioning system) but the performance was engaging, witty and magical. The composer conducted the London Sinfonietta, and the cast was mainly comprised of those who created the roles in the 1980s. Not an opera, but worth a special mention, was the BBC Symphony Orchestra's performance two days later of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder - the principal tenor, Jon Villars, was no adequate substitute for Ben Heppner, who was originally booked for this concert; however, Christine Brewer (Tove), Peter Sidhom (Peasant) and Philip Langridge (Fool) seemed at their peak. Nevertheless, it was no surprise that the evening belonged to Petra Lang, who gave a riveting, emotional account of the Wood Bird's song. Donald Runnicles conducted.

During August, the Spanish theme of this year's Proms continues with a double bill of Goyescas and L'heure espagnole, followed a few days later by La vida breve. Glyndebourne's annual contribution to the Albert Hall festivities will be a semi-staged version of Euryanthe, while arguably the hottest ticket of the entire Proms season is the impending visit by the Kirov Opera, who (at the start of a weekend of three Kirov concerts) will perform the 1869 version of Boris Godunov under Gergiev. British Youth Opera arrive at the Queen Elizabeth Hall before the month is out, with productions of Le nozze di Figaro and Orphee aux enfers.

© Ruth Elleson, 2 August 2002

August

Summer at the Proms

While most of the concert halls and opera houses are on their summer holiday, only the Proms bridge the gap between July and September. The Proms - Promenade Concerts - occupy the Royal Albert Hall once or twice a day from mid-July to mid-September, concentrating on Western classical music but also showcasing jazz, 'world music' and similar, with a large number of new works. Tickets in the stalls, circle and boxes sell at fairly standard concert prices; the Gallery and the huge Arena are standing room only and cost GBP 4 per concert for those who turn up on the day. Hardened addicts can buy a season ticket; to stand in the Arena for the entire season costs GBP 160, less than one top-price seat for certain performances at the Royal Opera House. The dress code is non-existent, and the long-standing social traditions among the promenaders (standees) contribute to a holiday atmosphere throughout the series.

Last year was a weak one for opera at the Proms; this year has more than compensated. Knussen's double bill, Higgledy Piggledy Pop! and Where the Wild Things Are (based on the children's books by Maurice Sendak) were the first complete operas to be heard at the 2002 Proms, with the London Sinfonietta conducted by the composer, and featuring many members of the original casts in charming performances.

Each Proms season is based around certain themes, and the most prominent this year has been the Spanish and Latin American thread which gave us a variety of operas and vocal dramas. First on the list was a double-bill. Angela Marambio sang gloriously as Rosario in Goyescas, and in Ravel's L' heure espagnole, Sarah Connolly stole the show as Concepcion juggling her three would-be lovers.

A performance of La vida breve, complete with a flamenco dancer and singers, followed later in the season, and a couple of weeks later there was more Falla in a late-night performance of El retablo de Maese Pedro.

Glyndebourne Festival Opera traditionally spends an evening in London in the middle of its main season, bringing one of the Festival's new productions in semi-staged form. Normally the Glyndebourne Prom is a guaranteed sell-out, but it was a sparse audience which greeted 12 August's performance of Weber's Euryanthe. It was a great shame, because in spite of the absurd plot, this was a terrific performance. The three long acts, punctuated by two intervals, seemed to fly past - largely due to the excellent performances of the two female principals, Anne Schwanewilms in the title role and the irrepressible Lauren Flanigan as her nemesis, Eglantine.

The season highlight promised to be the Kirov's Boris Godunov, under Gergiev on 24 August - I much regret to state that I was unwell on the night of the concert and managed to sleep through a large chunk of the performance. The parts of it I heard made me doubly annoyed that I had missed the rest. (Fortunately I recovered for the following evening's orchestral concert, also by the Kirov, when a blinding rendition of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony left the audience in stunned silence for a full 30 seconds before the applause began.)

Some of the world's finest opera singers can also be found on the oratorio platform. There have been too many good oratorio performances in the last few weeks for me to review them all, but I'll mention two. A performance of Elijah conducted by Kurt Masur, featured a brilliantly polished performance from the combined forces of the Philharmonia Chorus and the London Philharmonic Choir, and an authoritative assumption of the title role by Alastair Miles. And on 11 August, a mammoth performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the National Youth Orchestra under Simon Rattle (along with five choirs and eight international soloists) was so popular that more than eight hundred hopefuls were turned away for lack of standing room.

Handel's Samson, next weekend, will feature among others Lisa Milne and John Tomlinson. The following Saturday is the Last Night, returning more or less to this occasion's usual format following last year's radical changes in the wake of September 11.

© Ruth Elleson, 1 September 2002

September

At the Royal Opera House, the tenure of Antonio Pappano as Musical Director begins this season, and he made his debut as house artist with Christof Loy's stylish modern-dress production of Ariadne auf Naxos. The majority of the Prologue took place on the lower storey of a two-tier set, which must have caused a visual problem for anyone sitting too high up or, like me, too far to one side. Under most circumstances this might have spoiled the performance for me, but the staging was hugely watchable and the cast was amazing.

Petra Lang proved her credentials in soprano territory with the title role, and Robert Brubaker was thrilling as the Tenor. It was almost a shame to have to say goodbye to Thomas Allen's Music Master and Sophie Koch's Composer before the 'opera proper'. But the real discovery was the relatively unknown German soprano Marlis Petersen, who replaced Natalie Dessay as Zerbinetta some time in advance, and whose confident, note-perfect bravura brought the house down. The sight of this lithe, beautiful woman in a low-cut top, knee-high leopard-print boots and a tiny tennis skirt also had something to do with keeping a certain contingent happy!

Fortunately, the staging of La clemenza di Tito seen at Covent Garden this month was not the drab, creaky Salzburg import seen in early 2000. Having said that, Stephen Lawless's staging imported from Dallas and Minnesota was a fairly minimalist staging which did not detract attention from Colin Davis 's creditable interpretation of Mozart's score. The cast was pure luxury - Vesselina Kasarova as Sesto (returning from last time) was complemented by Barbara Frittoli's voluptuous Vitellia, with Bruce Ford as Tito, Katarina Karneus as Annio and Anna Netrebko as Servilia.

Last year's seedy, thought-provoking staging of Rigoletto is back for a revival, with a cast which in many ways did not work out as well as last year's line-up. The beetle-like interpretation of the title role, an idea integral to David McVicar's production, did not come as easily to Carlos Alvarez as it had to his predecessor, Paolo Gavanelli. Ramon Vargas made a good effort as the Duke, but his voice is really too small for even this lightest of Verdi tenor roles. The ensembles drowned him out and the lack of volume highlighted a lack of the character's quintessential arrogance. With Eric Halfvarson returning from the original cast as Sparafucile, the only downright improvement was the casting of house debutante Patrizia Ciofi as Gilda, who combined top notes of spun gold with an altogether warmer and more sympathetic portrayal than that of Christine Schäfer last year.

I have now seen Andrei Serban's production of Turandot four times - the first time featured Sharon Sweet in the title role, and the second and third featured Jane Eaglen. While I have no objection to large sopranos as long as they sound terrific, I was not prepared for just how much a performance of this opera can be improved by a singer who can move easily around the stage. Anna Shafajinskaia headed one of this season's two mix-and-match casts, and her reaction at Calaf's kiss - reeling backwards in shock - was priceless. This is not to imply that she didn't make an extremely decent job of the music, with a good sense of musical line, and a real glint to the top of the voice, but in this performance the vocal highlights came from Richard Margison's full-bodied, musical Calaf.

Li Ping Zhang's Liu, a tiny figure beside Robert Lloyd's reserved Timur, displayed an interesting, attractive vocal quality and gave a heartbreaking account of the role, though a mistake towards the end of her final aria somewhat broke the dramatic tension. There were times at which Marco Armiliato's conducting began to drag, but generally it was the most gripping acount of this staging that I have seen so far. I am looking forward to returning for the last performance of the run, with a cast headed by Frances Ginzer, Janez Lotric and Elena Kelessidi.

British Youth Opera's two shows this year were Le nozze di Figaro and Orphée aux enfers. Figaro was given in a very traditional setting, and as always with these youth casts, some individual performers stood out - Sarah Jane Davies as the Contessa, Trine Bastrup Moller as Cherubino and John Lofthouse as a Figaro with a natural talent for comedy. Unusually for BYO, it was sung in Italian. Orphée was given in English, in a raucous, stylised, almost cartoonish staging with an ensemble cast - great fun.

Towards the end of the month came the latest large-scale arena opera at the Royal Albert Hall - Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, or in this case, Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana. I still wonder why it was decided to give the two operas in the less common order - possibly so that the Prologue serves as an opener to the whole evening. These enterprises tend towards extremes of quality, and fortunately this occasion was closer to last Spring's excellent Carmen than to 2001's atrocious Aida.

They still haven't quite managed to get the amplification right, though, and even with a cast whose diction is normally excellent, it was a struggle to hear the words. Pagliacci didn't start well, thanks to Philip Joll's oversung and wobbly Tonio, but things soon picked up, and there were particularly notable performances from Mary Hegarty - a Dresden-china Nedda with a cruel edge - and David Rendall's dramatic Canio. After the interval, Cavalleria Rusticana managed to generate an instant sense of sultry claustrophobia (even in this wide-open space) and the simplicity of the staging gave centre-stage to the drama. The cast was even stronger than for Pagliacci, headed by Anne-Marie Owens's Santuzza and John Hudson's Turiddu.

The 2002/03 season will be a short one at English National Opera because of the renovation work on the Coliseum. Performances would normally begin in mid-September and finish early July, but this year it's late October to mid-June. Whatever the company's current troubles, the artists are currently making use of their short exile by sunning themselves in Barcelona - performing the David Pountney production of The Fairy Queen which recently had a smash-hit London revival.

Next month - the ENO season finally kicks off with a major new production of Tosca, as well as concert performances of Das Rheingold at the Barbican, and the Royal Opera will perform I masnadieri and Wozzeck.

© Ruth Elleson, 1 October 2002

October 

After an extended summer closure caused by the first phase of the Coliseum renovation works, the English National Opera (ENO) is finally back at the Coliseum. The season opened with a terrific revival of Jonathan Miller's popular 1987 production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, which owed its success to three outstanding cast members. As Almaviva, ENO's new junior principal tenor, Colin Lee, demonstrated himself to be a real find &endash; a high, light tenor with a seemingly infinite upper register, without a trace of effort anywhere in his voice. He will no doubt find his career niche in roles like Tamino, Ramiro, Fenton.

The already hugely popular young bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu made his house debut as a scene-dominating, grubby Basilio. And among his young colleagues (Leslie John Flanagan and Victoria Simmonds, the Figaro a