Written On Skin at the Royal Opera

This was the first revival of George Benjamin's Written On Skin. As with contemporary operas, familiarity goes a long way in appreciating the work. In this revival, I found Christopher Purves's The Protector powerful and moving. Barbara Hannigan, who sang Agnès, was superb. The pure and slightly eerie tone of Iestyn Davies as The Boy completed the perfect cast.

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Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera

Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.

Der fliegende Holländer at the Royal Opera

I have managed to avoid all the reviews as I didn't want them to taint my experience of the new production of Der fliegende Holländer at the Royal Opera. The long overture was accompanied by a seascape - essentially water running down a curtain across the stage forming the sea. The set was clever without cluttering the stage. A moving shadow represented the ghost ship - which had to be one of the most economical and convincing effects I have ever seen on the Royal Opera stage. Bryn Terfel was magnificent as the Flying Dutchman singing with lyricism and drama. Senta, sung by Anja Kampe, had a Wagnerian voice with her top note ringing through the auditorium. Even the supporting cast of Hans-Peter König (Daland), Torsten Kerl (Erik) and John Tessier (Steersman) was strong. The chorus was fantastic - with enough singers carrying the drama. Marc Albrecht at the helm in the pit got the orchestra to play dynamically without losing the details. I am hoping this Dutchman will return to the...

Saul at Glyndebourne

What a superb revival production directed by Barrie Kosky. The big choruses were done with the singers doing slo-mo mannerism action. Markus Brück was particularly fine with Saul, and the rest of the cast did a super job to bring this oratorio to life. Laurence Cummings maintained dramatic momentum with the OAE while darting from the rostrum to the organ - including playing the solo intro on a spinning organ on stage!

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