Προηγούμενες Κριτικές Παραγωγής
5John Doyle designs and directs this opera by Massenet, supported by tremendous singing and excellent playing by the Gascoigne Orchestra
The new theatre at Grange Park proves an ideal venue for the most concentrated of Benjamin Britten's operas, The Turn of the Screw. Its dry acoustic helps to reinforce the impact of Britten's ghost story, a piece that combines the tautest of musical arguments with an unerring feeling for atmosphere. Musically, with Lionel Friend conducting the Orchestra of Grange Park, the production is excellent, and every word comes over clearly from a strong cast of principals. The children are well-cast. Megan Kelly has already sung the role of Flora for English National Opera; here her projection is clear and fresh, her performance brilliant and unforced. As Britten prescribes, the role of Miles is taken by a boy-treble, William Sheldon; his voice is bright, if inevitably lacking in power.
Most families will recognise the scene: a wealthy relative dies, and suddenly the whole family gets interested. There is a will to be read, and everyone has high hopes for themselves. And nothing is new: the Italian poet Dante wrote his comic episode about family greed in his Divine Comedy. And centuries later the composer Giacomo Puccini set it to music, writing his hilarious short comic opera Gianni Schicchi. Schicchi is the wily Florentine brought in to resolve a problem when an all-important will cannot be found. The hopeful relatives are banking on acquiring, property, land, a mule... The character is based on a real-life fixer, Giovanni Schicchi de’ Cavalcanti.
Derek Welton’s physically imposing, vocally booming Uncle Bonze, delivering his curse with terrifying menace, clearly has major star potential.
Derek Welton’s tremendous Bonze stood out. This young Australian has star potential, and you have to wonder why the Royal Opera cast such a feeble Italian as Monterone in their recent Rigoletto with a young singer like this around (he has already made a big impression at the Guildhall School and with British Youth Opera, which aren’t exactly a million miles from Covent Garden).
