⭐⭐⭐⭐ "a fabulously lavish visual treat – big, camp, joyous and taking no prisoners - and the music was, well, sublime"
To hear and see Henry Purcell’s unique seventeenth century English style in such a vibrant and, yes, charming production, just goes to show how accessible and current Purcell’s music can be.
Gheorghe Palcu and Sonny Fielding’s sharply etched Pallante and Lesbo
Was I carried away by the romance? Yes. By the nostalgia of lost youth? Yes. Did I share in the matey good cheer of the young lads? Yes. Did I enjoy seeing La bohème sung by singers of the right sort of age for the characters? For sure. And was I in floods at the end? Absolutely. Job done.
Mozart’s eternal opera buffa Le nozze di Figaro fizzes gloriously in this production from Hampstead Garden Opera. The production is a miracle of maximal effect with minimum material (the stage remains constant throughout) thanks to superb lighting by Jonny Dancinger; space is superbly, imaginatively used, with equally superbly imaginative choreography by Carmine de Amicis.
Seen and Heard International
'As Amore, Stephanie Hershaw, having survived an attempt on her life with a little divine assistance, is in show-stealing form, firing her arrows with puckish naughtiness.'