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Showing posts from June, 2015

The Pirates of Penzance, ENO

Robert Murray was probably a bit too mature as the 21-year old Frederic, Claudia Boyle made a fine Mabel. The male chorus was definitely tighter and punchier than the girly chorus which sounded a bit untidy. The delivery of words was passable in the spoken passages, but often inaudible when sung. David Parry's waving of the stick in the pit was ok - kept the gig together. Alison Chitty's design was a bit too village-hall for my liking. A little G&S goes a long way. Don't think I will be rushing back to see another G&S at ENO soon.

Poliuto, Glyndebourne

It was my first time seeing Donizetti's Poliuto - also UK's professional premier of the work. Michael Fabiano, with his chesty tenor voice, made a convincingly torn (emotionally, religiously) Poliuto. Ana María Martínez's portrayal of Paolina was excellent. The voices of these two lead roles matched very well. The LPO played exceedingly well under the baton of Enrique Mazzola. The set, however, was a little disappointing. I guess the designer Julia Hansen didn't want to dwell too much on Armenian history. Still, everything felt a little static, devoid of historical and cultural references.

As You Like It, Globe Theatre

Not been to the Globe for a while. And not seen As You Like It for a long time. The performance was ok - most (not all) of the words were clear. I think the actors spoke too fast. In particular, "Seven Ages of Man" was a little lost through poor delivery. Also, bit of accent disparity occurred - one of the actors had a strong West Country accent which jarred with everyone else's.